Reading Veronica Potter And The Philsophers Stone
by Emziiee90
Summary: Veronica, Friends, Family and The Members of The Order are rerading aobut Veronica's Life and how to ultimalty defeat Voldemort.
1. Chapter 1

It was the christmas holidays and Veronica Potter was spending it at her godfathers house, and she thought it was going to be the best christmas ever but then it all got out of preportion.

Veronica was upset that her godfather did not want to spend time with her and kept himself to his library, Sirius' husband Remus Lupin decided to go and speak with him as he saw that his daughter in all but blood looking unhappy.

Remus went up to the library to find Sirius just sitting in a chair by the fire just staring into space.

"Sirius why do you keep coming in here all alone, do you not realise that Ronnie is feeling like you do not want to spend anytime with her?" said Remus

"Remmy i do want to spend time with her but she is keeping secrets from us, she doesn't say anything about her time with her relatives, or what she gets up to in school, all i want to do is find out everything but she always changes the topic. What am i suspossed to do?" said Sirius

"I know this is hard on you Siri but she will open up in time, you have to remember she hasn't had you back in her life for a while and it will be something she will have to get used to." said Remus

All of a sudden a blue light shined and 7 books appeared out of no where with a letter attached.

Remus picked up the note and all is said was to gather certain people, so Sirius and Remus went downstairs to gather the people.

When the right people had turned up a message appeared on the note.

Dumbledore decided to read the message aloud.

_Dear Veronica, Friends, Family and Teachers,_

_We have sent you 7 books about the life of Veronica Potter and her years at Hogwarts. These come from the future where Voldemort is gone, but to many people died in the process. So we decided to send the books back so you can change the future. And i am afraid you have to start from the beginning so that everyone can see what they did wrong when trying to protect Veronica._

_Read the books in order;_

_Veronica Potter and the Philosophers Stone_

_Veronica Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_

_Veronica Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban_

_Veronica Potter and The Goblet of Fire_

_Veronica Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_

_Veronica Potter and the Half Blood Prince_

_Veronica Potter and the Deathly Hallows_

_Veronica we are sorry but this has to happen so it would be prudent that you do not protest, try not to curse or hex anyone because there will be consequenses if you do._

_And no points can be rewared or taken, and certainly no detentions will be given._

_Hope you have a happy reading_

_Love_

_JSP, ASP, LLP, TRP, CRP_

"Well i guess we should get started, who would like to read first." said Dumbledore

"Why do we have to read the books, it is my life and it should be private, i do not want everone knowing about my life." ranted Ronnie

"Ronnie we need to reasd these books to stop Voldemort you do want that don't you." said Sirius

"Yes i do want that but i do not want my life read where everyone knows what happens." saud Ronnie with tears in her eyes

Sirius and Remus just hugged her, while everyone was looking at her thinking what happened to this strong girl to make her want to cry.

"I am sorry my dear girl but this must happen." said Dumbledore

"I will read first if you don't mind Dumbledore." said Mr Weasley

Dumbledore passed over the first book

"Veronica Potter and the Philosophers Stone. Chapter One, The Girl Who Lived." said Mr Weasley.


	2. The Girl Who Lived

**Veronica Potter and the Philosophers Stone**

**The Girl Who Lived**

**Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four privet drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.**

'' Who would want to be normal like you.'' said George

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold such nonsense.**

'' But nonsense is so much fun.'' said Fred pouting

**Mr Dursley was the director of a firm call Grunnings, which made drills.**

'' Drills Drills Drills all he goes on about.'' said Veronica

**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very moustache. Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning her over garden fences, spying on the neighbours**

'' She is so rude spying on people all the time.'' said Hermione

**The Dursleys had a small son called dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

'' Oh yes he is absolutely adorable and can do know wrong.'' said Veronica scowling

**The Dursley's have everything they wanted, buy they also had a secret,**

'' Ooooo a secret.'' said Charlie

**and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

'' Yeahh everything is your fault right Ronnie.'' said Bill

'' Don't i know it.'' said Ronnie

**Mrs Potter was Mrs Dursleys sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.**

'' My daddy was not good for nothing.'' said Ronnie sadly

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbours would say if the Potters arrived in the street.**

**The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small daughter, too, but they had never seen her. This girl was another good reason for keeping the Potters aways; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

'' Yeah Ronnie is not a child you should hang out with.'' said Sirius sarcastically

**When Mr and Mrs Dursley woke up on the dull, grey tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country.**

'' Strange things are fun.'' said the twins

**Mr Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work and Mrs Dursley gossiped happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair. None of them noticed a large tawny owl flutter past the window.**

'' That's because they are so stupid.'' said Ronnie

'' Don't speak of your relatives that way Veronica.'' said Mrs Weasley

Ronnie didn't reply but just rolled her eyes

**At half past eight, Mr Dursley picked up his brief, pecked Mrs Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. 'Little Tyke,' chortled Mr Dursley**

'' Little my arse.'' snorted the twins

Mrs Weasley shouted at them

**as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number fours drive. It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar - a cat reading a map.**

'' What kind of cat reads a map.'' asked Ron

'' The animagus kind.'' said Hermione

**For a second he didn't realise what he had seen - then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive , but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive - no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs.**

'' Excuse me professor McGonagall did you know cats can't read maps.'' said Ronnie

'' I never knew that.'' said professor McGonagall dryly

**Mr Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove towards town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

'' One track mind.'' said Tonks

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks.**

'' The horror.'' the twins screamed

**Mr Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes - the get-ups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of weirdos standing quite close by.**

'' Oh my god old people in cloaks whatever will we do.'' said Ronnie sarcastically

**They were whispering excitedly together. Mr Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then is struck Mr Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something ... yes that would be it. The traffic moved on, and a few minutes later, Mr Dursley arrived in Grunnings car park, his mind back on drills.**

'' Is drills all her ever thinks about?.'' Sirius asked

'' What do you think.'' said Ronnie rolling her eyes

**Mr Dursley always sat with is back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; the pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl before even at night time.**

'' Poor him never seeing an owl.'' said Ginny

**Mr Dursley, however had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunch-time, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road**

'' He can exercise.'' Said Ronnie incredulously

**to buy himself a bun from the baker's opposite.**

'' Never mind all is good again.'' laughed Ronnie

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until h passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This lot were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

**'The Potters, that's right, that's what i heard -'**

**'- yes, their daughter, Veronica -'**

**Mr Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him, He looked back at the whispering as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized the telephone and had almost finished dialling his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache, thinking ... no, he was being stupid.**

'' He can think what do you know.'' laughed Hermione

**Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a daughter called Veronica. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his niece was called Veronica. He'd never seen the girl. It might have been Valerie. Or Vanessa. There was no point in worrying Mrs Dursley, she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if he'd had a sister like that ... but all the same, those people in cloaks ...**

'' There is nothing wrong with my mum.'' shouted Ronnie

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

**'Sorry,' he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr Dursley realised that the man was wearing a violet cloak.**

'' Hyperventilating here… He knows how to apologise.'' said Ronnie

**He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passers-by stare: 'Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!'**

**And the old man hugged Mr Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

'' His arms fit.'' Ron asked wide eyed

**Mr Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off home, hoping he was imaging things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination...**

'' How can you not approve of imagination.'' the twins cried

**As he pulled up into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted this morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

'' Totally Minnie.'' Sirius said

'' What did i say about you calling me Minnie Mr Black.'' McGonagall asked

**'Shoo!' said Mr Dursley loudly **

'' Like that would ever work.'' whispered Ronnie

**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.**

'' Got that look a few times didn't we Remmy.'' said Sirius

Ronnie and Hermione burst out laughing

**Was this normal cat behaviour, Mr Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

'' Coward.'' whispered Snape

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word ("Won't!").**

'' That word never left his vocabulary.'' said Ronnie much to most of the rooms amusement

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news: "And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin.**

**"Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim." "Well, Ted," **

'' That's my daddy.'' said Tonks

**said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight." Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair.**

**Shooting stars all over Britain. Owls flying by daylight. Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place. And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...**

'' He can put it together not as stupid as he looks.'' whispered Ronnie to Hermione

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

'' That's not very nice.'' said Mrs Weasley

'' You get used to it.'' said Ronnie

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..." **

**"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

**"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you know... her crowd." **

'' What's that supposed to mean.'' said Tonks suspiciously

'' Wizards and Witches i suppose.'' said Ronnie

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their daughter - she'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?" **

**"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

**"What's her name again? Vanessa, isn't it?"**

**"Veronica. Nasty, common name, if you ask me. Like the nickname Ronnie she goes by." **

'' Well i like the name Veronica.'' said Charlie

While Ronnie just looked at Charlie lovingly

**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree." He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed.**

**While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there.**

**It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did... if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind... He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on - he yawned and turned over - it couldn't affect them...**

**How very wrong he was.**

'' I wish he was right this time.'' muttered Ronnie sadly

which caused Sirius and Remus to look at her in alarm

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

'' Ooooo someones in trouble.'' laughed the twins

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots.**

'' I wonder who that could be.'' said Remus sarcastically

**His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

'' Whoooo its professor Dumbledore.'' said Ronnie dryly

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realise that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome**

'' I knew i just didn't care.'' Dumbledore chuckled

**He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realise he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known." **

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. **

'' Wicked.'' shouted the twins and Ron

**He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

**"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall." He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone.**

'' Nahh you don't say.'' said Sirius

**Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

'' A highly logical guess.'' laughed Hermione

**"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly." "You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

'' All day.'' muttered Ronnie

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here." Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently.**

**"You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls... shooting stars... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense." **

'' Awesome bloke tho meet him a few times.'' laughed Ronnie

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years." **

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumours." She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore." **

**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?" **

**"A what?" **

**"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of." **

Ronnie laughed at the headmasters addiction to lemon drops

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone -" **

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name. All this 'You- Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort." **

People flinched

**Professor McGonagall flinched.**

'' It's just a name for goodness sake get over it.'' shouted Ronnie

**but Dumbledore, who was un-sticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

**"I know you haven't, said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."**

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have." **

'' Only coz your to noble to use them.'' said Remus

**"Only because you're too - well - noble to use them." **

Everyone laughed

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

'' Too much information there professor.'' said Hermione

while everyone was looking a bit green

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to the rumours that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying. About why he's disappeared. About what finally stopped him." It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.**

'' You just had to have her say it out loud didn't you.'' snapped Ronnie

'' Veronica that is no way to speak to Professor Dumbledore apologise now.'' screeched Mrs Weasley

Ronnie just gave her a defiant look.

**"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumour is that Lily and James Potter are - are - that they're - dead. " Dumbledore bowed his head.**

Ronnie turned so she was buried in Sirius chest while he hugged her

**Professor McGonagall gasped. "Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it... Oh, Albus..." **

'' I didn't realise you were that close with my parents professor.'' said Ronnie smiling sadly

'' I knew them quite well i used to babysit you.'' McGonagall chuckled

Ronnie just blushed

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know... I know..." he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's daughter, Veronica. But - he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little Girl. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Veronica Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone."**

Ronnie was crying while buried in Sirius's chest

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

**"It's - it's true." faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little girl. It's just astounding... of all the things to stop him... but how in the name of heaven did Veronica survive."**

'' All due to my mums love for me.'' muttered Ronnie sadly

**"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know." **

'' You know.'' mumbled Ronnie

Dumbledore just gave her a sad smile

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. **

**Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. **

**It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way." **

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places." **

**"I've come to bring Veronica to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family she has left now."**

**"You don't mean - you can't mean the people who live here." cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Veronica Potter come and live here!" **

'' Thanks for trying professor.'' said Ronnie

**"It's the best place for her," said Dumbledore firmly. "Her aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to her when she's older. I've written them a letter." **

'' Like it could be explained in a letter.'' said Charlie angrily

**"A letter." repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter. These people will never understand her! She'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Veronica Potter day in the future **

'' NO there better not be.'' panicked Ronnie

**- there will be books written about Veronica - every child in our world will know her name!" **

'' They got that right didn't they.'' muttered Ron

**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any girl's head. Famous before she can walk and talk! Famous for something she won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off she'll be, growing up away from all that until she's ready to take it."**

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course. But how is the girl getting here, Dumbledore." She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Veronica underneath it.**

Ronnie looked really green at that thought

**"Hagrid's bringing her."**

**"You think it - wise - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this." **

'' I would trust Hagrid with my life.'' said the trio glaring at McGonagall

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

'' What did you know we think like Dumbledore.'' snorted Ronnie while Ron and Hermione burst out laughing

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that." **

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

'' It wasn't a dream.'' said Ronnie looking shocked

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle."**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. **

'' Thank you Siri.'' said Ronnie

**I've got her, sir." **

**"No problems, were there?" **

**"No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got her out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. She fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

'' Awww.'' cooed Mrs Weasley, Hermione and McGonagall

Ronnie blushed

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby girl, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over her forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

'' Such an adorable baby.'' said Remus

**"Is that where -." whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "She'll have that scar forever."**

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore." **

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well - give her here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with."**

'' Yeah lets get it over with i am not important right.'' said Ronnie sarcastically

Mrs Weasley looked at Ronnie disgustingly

**Dumbledore took Veronica in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**

**"Could I - could I say good-bye to her, sir." asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Veronica and gave her what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

'' I take offence to that.'' pouted Sirius while Ronnie burst out laughing at her godfathers face

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"**

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Veronica off ter live with Muggles -" **

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Veronica gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Veronica's blankets, and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

'' You know it is bad when Dumbledore's eyes stop twinkling.'' said Bill

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir." Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

'' I can't believe you left her on the doorstep.'' shouted Hermione

**"Good luck, Veronica," he murmured.**

'' I needed more than that.'' snapped Ronnie while everyone wondered what happened with her relatives

**He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.**

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Veronica Potter rolled over inside her blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on**

**not knowing she was special, not knowing she was famous, not knowing she would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that she would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by her cousin Dudley... She couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Veronica Potter - the Girl who lived!"**

'' Thats that chapter over who wants to read next.'' said Mr Weasley

'' I will Mr Weasley.'' said Hermione


	3. The Vanishing Glass

**THE VANISHING GLASS **

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their niece on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all.**

''How boring.'' said Bill

**The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-coloured bonnets - **

Everyone laughed

**but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another child lived in the house, too. **

''Hey pup why are there not any pictures of you.'' asked Sirius

Ronnie just ignored him

**Yet Veronica Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. Her Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day. **

**"Up! Get up! Now!" **

**Veronica woke with a start. Her aunt rapped on the door again. **

**"Up!" she screeched. Veronica heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. She rolled onto her back wincing and tried to remember the dream she had been having. **

''Why is your back hurting cub.'' asked Remus

''Just slept on in wrong that's all.'' said Ronnie innocently

**It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. She had a funny feeling she'd had the same dream before. **

''Of course it wasn't a dream.'' said Ron

''I know that now.'' snapped Ronnie

**Her aunt was back outside the door. **

**"Are you up yet?" she demanded. **

**"Nearly," said Veronica. **

**"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

''They made you cook.'' said Hermione incredulously

Ronnie just shrugged

**Veronica groaned. **

**"What did you say?" her aunt snapped through the door. **

**"Nothing, nothing..." **

**Dudley's birthday - how could she have forgotten? Veronica got slowly out of bed trying not to make any sudden movements and started looking for socks. She found a pair under her bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Veronica was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where she slept. **

''You slept where.'' Shouted Siruis and Remus

''Get over it, it's not a big deal it happened 4 years ago.'' said Ronnie rolling her eyes

Everyone just stared at her incredulously

**When she was dressed she went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Veronica, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favourite punching bag was Veronica, but he couldn't often catch her. Veronica didn't look it, but she was very fast. **

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Veronica had always been small and skinny for her age. She looked even smaller and skinnier than she really was because all she had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than she was. Veronica had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, **

''Just like James.'' said Sirius sadly

**and bright green eyes. **

''And they are all Lily.'' said Remus

**She was glad she didn't wear glasses as Dudley had punched her on the nose a fair few times. The only thing Veronica liked about her own appearance was a very thin scar on her forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning.**

''You liked your scar.'' said Ron

''Its not like i knew how i got it.'' snapped Ronnie

**She had had it as long as she could remember, and the first question she could ever remember asking her Aunt Petunia was how she had gotten it. **

**"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions." **

''A CAR CRASH.'' shouted Sirius and Remus

**Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys. **

''How are you supposed to learn.'' said Hermione

''They didn't want me to learn Mione.'' said Ronnie

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Veronica was turning over the bacon. **

**"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting. **

''Not gunna work.'' said Sirius, Remus, Ronnie, Ron, Mione and the twins

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Veronica needed a haircut. Veronica must have had more haircuts than the rest of the girls in her class put **

**together, but it made no difference, her hair simply grew that way - all over the place. **

''It's annoying but you get used to it.'' said Ronnie

**Veronica was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel - Veronica often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig. **

''Always knew there was a reason we loved you Ronnie.'' said the twins while Charlie was glaring at his brothers with jealously

**Veronica put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell. **

**"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year." **

''He's complaining that he got 36 presents,'' said Ron incredulously while Ronnie just looked at everyone with the expression 'well duh'

**"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy." **

**"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Veronica, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down her bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over as she didn't know when her next meal was going to be. **

''They starved you.'' said Remus angrily

''Not a big deal you get used to it.'' said Ronnie

Sirius and Remus then decided they would have to have a little chat with Ronnie

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right'' **

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty ... thirty..." **

''He can't even count.'' said Mione incredulously

''What did you expect.'' said Ronnie deadpanned

**"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia. **

**"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then." **

**Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair. **

''That's the wrong way to encouraged kids.'' said Mrs Weasley angrily

''You would know.'' muttered Ronnie while Mione snorted

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried. **

**"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take her." She jerked her head in Veronica's direction. **

''Do they ever use your name cub.'' said Remus

''Hmm don't think so.'' said Ronnie while thinking

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Veronica's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Veronica was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Veronica hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made her look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned. **

''You shouldn't be so rude Veronica she was nice enough to look after you.'' said Mrs Weasley

''Well excuse me for wanting to have some fun when i was a kid, my relatives always left me behind with Mrs Figg so i didn't have any fun. Would you like it if that happened to you.'' snapped Ronnie while everyone was looking at her and thinking 'do not piss off Ronnie'

''Don't take that tone with me young lady.'' said Mrs Weasley

''Do not parent Veronica, Molly it its not your job too, if she does something wrong then it will be up to me and Remus to reprimand our daughter not you.'' said Sirius while Ronnie was thinking did Sirius mean that he saw her as a daughter with a hopeful expression on her face.

**"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Veronica as though she'd planned this. Veronica knew she ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when she reminded himself it would be a whole year before she had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again. **

**"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested. **

**"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the girl."**

**Veronica was relieved to hear she did not have to spend the day with Aunt Marge.**

''Isn't that the one you blew up.'' snickered the twins

''Yes and she totally deserved it.'' said Ronnie angrily as she remembered what happened.

Mrs Weasley was about to open her mouth when suddenly Remus spoke ''Cub why did you blow her up.'' Ronnie just ignored him not in the mood to bring up what she said

**The Dursleys often spoke about Veronica like this, as though she wasn't there - or rather, as though she was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug. **

**"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?" **

**"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia. **

**"You could just leave me here," Veronica put in hopefully (she'd be able to watch what she wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer). **

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon. **

''She always looks like that.'' said Ronnie laughing

**"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled. **

**"I won't blow up the house," said Veronica, but they weren't listening. **

''That's Mr Weasley/Dad's job.'' said Ronnie, the twins and Ron laughing while Mrs Weasley glared at her husband who was trying not to laugh

**"I suppose we could take her to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave her in the car..." **

''What are you some kind of dog.'' said Ginny

''Nah Siri is the dog not me.'' said Ronnie while everyone laughed at the pouting Sirius

**"That car's new, she's not sitting in it alone..." **

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying - it had been years since he'd really cried - but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted. **

**"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him. **

''Dinky Duddydums.'' snorted the twins

''Where does she come up with these names.'' asked Bill

''I don't know maybe from the idiotic part of brain.'' said Ronnie

''Ronnie be nice about your relatives.'' scolded Remus while Ronnie looked at him with hurt in her eyes

''You don't know nothing about my life with the Dursleys so how can you scold me on it, it's not fair.'' snapped Ronnie with tears in her eyes while she moved away from Remus to sit with Charlie

''Veronica Lily Potter do not take that tone with Remus.'' said Sirius while Ronnie had had enough of everyone scolding her for nothing so she snapped at Sirius. '' Its not my fault i can't find nothing nice to say about them so stop scolding me on it, where were you when i needed you the most, I hate you.'' said Ronnie while crying she got up and tried to walk out the room but Remus grabbed hold of her.

''Veronica what has gotten into you, it's not normally like you to snap at Sirius or me.'' said Remus

''I do not want to talk about it.'' said Ronnie stubbornly and detached herself from Remus and went back to sit with Charlie, ignoring the looks she was getting from everyone.

**"I... don't... want... her... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "She always sp- spoils everything!" He shot Veronica a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms. **

**Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once. **

''Not a real friend if you can't cry in front of them.'' said Mione looking at her sister in all but blood worriedly

**Half an hour later, Veronica, who couldn't believe her luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in her life. Her aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with her, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Veronica aside. **

**"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Veronica's, "I'm warning you now, girl - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas with a beating every night and no food." **

''They beat you.'' said Sirius looking at Ronnie who was not paying attention to anyone.

**"I'm not going to do anything," said Veronica, "honestly.. **

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe her. No one ever did. **

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Veronica and it was just no good telling the Dursleys she didn't make them happen. **

''It's called accidental magic.'' said the twins to Ronnie like they were talking to a 5 year old and Ronnie burst out laughing at them. ''See we knew we could get you laughing again.'' said Fred winking at Ronnie. Charlie was feeling more and more jealous and Ronnie noticed so she put her head on Charlie's shoulder and whispered in his ear. ''You have nothing to worry about i only love you, your brothers are only trying to cheer me up.

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Veronica coming back from the hairdressers looking as though she hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut her hair so short she was almost bald except for her bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Veronica, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where she was already laughed at for his baggy clothes. Next morning, however, she had gotten up to find her hair in the middle of her back exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. She had been given a week in her cupboard for this and a beating every night, even though she had tried to explain that she couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly. **

''Hmm you may be part metamorphmagus Ronnie.'' said Tonks while Ronnie just looked at Tonks and said '' I already know that i am forever changing my hair colour at school.'' while she changed her hair colour from black to red with gold streaks

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force her into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls) - The harder she tried to pull it over her head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Veronica. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to her great relief, Veronica wasn't punished. **

''You shouldn't be punished for accidental magic anyway pup, Petunia should know what it looks like.'' said Sirius

''Why do you think i got punished in the first place Siri, because Aunt Petunia didn't like me doing any kind of magic.'' said Ronnie while not looking at him

**On the other hand, she'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing her as usual when, as much to Veronica's surprise as anyone else's, there she was sitting on the chimney.**

''That's very powerful accidental magic Ronnie.'' said Dumbledore looking at her

''Thank you sir.'' said Ronnie not looking at him as she blames him for sending her to her relatives

**The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Veronica's headmistress telling them Veronica had been climbing school buildings. But all she'd tried to do (as she shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of her cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Veronica supposed that the wind must have caught her in mid- jump. **

''You may be a scrawny git Ronnie but your not that scrawny.'' said George seriously.

while Fred, Ron, Mione, Bill, Sirius and Remus laughed and Ronnie snuggled into Charlie's side

Sirius and Remus shared a look and decided to watch Ronnie and Charlie to see what was going on between them

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong.**

''Jinxed yourself there didn't you Ronnie.'' said Mione

**It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, her cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room. **

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Veronica, the council, Veronica, the bank, and Veronica were just a few of his favourite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles. **

''There is nothing wrong with motorcycles.'' said Sirius with a pout while Remus just laughed at his husbands face

**"... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them. **

**I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Veronica, remembering suddenly. "It was flying." **

''Not one word i was 10 and excited to be going to the zoo.'' said Ronnie with her face hidden in Charlie's neck

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Veronica, his face like a gigantic beet with a moustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!" **

**Dudley and Piers sniggered. **

**I know they don't," said Veronica. But it would be awesome if they do she thought to herself**

**But she wished she hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than her asking questions, it was her talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think she might get dangerous ideas. **

''Ronnie can you show us what a cartoon is.'' said the twins excitedly while Mrs Weasley looked like she was going to say something so Ronnie said ''Of course i can show you what cartoons are where.''

''Where do they think i got my prank ideas from.'' whispered Ronnie in Charlie's ear and he shivered

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Veronica what she wanted before they could hurry her away, they bought her a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either, Veronica thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blonde. **

''That was rather cruel of me what did the gorilla do to deserve me saying it looked like Dudley.'' said Ronnie matter of fact while the twins, Ron, Ginny, Bill, Charlie, Sirius and Remus burst out laughing

**Veronica had the best morning she'd had in a long time. She was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting her. They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Veronica was allowed to finish the first. **

''He is such a brat.'' said Mione angrily

**Veronica felt, afterward, that she should have known it was all too good to last. **

Ronnie started to fell sick as she didn't know how Siri and Remmy were going to act after they found out she can speak to snakes.

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can - but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep. **

''More like ignoring everyone.'' said Ronnie

''How do you know that cub.'' said Remus while looking at Ronnie seeing that she didn't look overly well. Ronnie just decided to ignore him.

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils. **

**"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge. **

**"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on. **

**"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away. **

**Veronica moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. She wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least she got to visit the rest of the house. **

''Your comparing yourself to a snake pup.'' said Sirius laughing

''Well at least the snake got feed decently.'' snapped Ronnie. She was feeling really on edge

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Veronica's. **

**It winked. **

''Snakes can't wink they have no eyelids.'' said Remus

''Well this one winked.'' Ronnie shot back

Sirius and Remus were both wondering what was with Ronnie as she does not normally snap at people so they looked at each other and decided to talk to her after the chapter was over

**Veronica stared. Then she looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. She looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

''Only you Ronnie.'' said Mione shaking her head

''You got that right doll.'' said Ronnie winking at Mione

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Veronica a look that said quite plainly: **

**"I get that all the time. **

**"I know," Veronica murmured through the glass, though she wasn't sure the snake could hear her. "It must be really annoying." **

''You can speak to snakes pup.'' said Sirius faintly

''Yeah so what it is not like i asked to be able to speak to them.'' snapped Ronnie extremely pissed off that Sirius didn't like the fact she could speak to snakes

''That is enough Veronica, I will not have you speak like that to my husband, he was only asking a question, you better get your attitude sorted out as after this chapter is done, you, me and Sirius are going to be having a family meeting.'' said Remus in a no nonsense tone

''That's what you think.'' mumbled Ronnie

So Remus got up walked over to Ronnie picked her up and made her sit on his lap so there was no way of escaping. Ronnie just sat there staring at a wall thinking 'i do not have to talk to them if i don't want to so i am not going to'

**The snake nodded vigorously. **

**"Where do you come from, anyway?" Veronica asked. **

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Veronica peered at it. **

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil. **

**"Was it nice there?" **

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Veronica read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?" **

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Veronica made both of them jump. **

**"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!" **

**Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could. **

**"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Veronica in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Veronica fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror. **

''What did you do?.'' asked the twins

**Veronica sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.**

''You did that with accidental magic Miss Potter.'' said McGonnagall

''I did always love transfiguration, it is one of my favourite subject.'' said Ronnie to Mcgonnagall with a smile on her face

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits. **

**As the snake slid swiftly past her, Veronica could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amiga." **

''Very polite snake that was, the only one i ever knew.'' said Ronnie

While Snape was sitting there thinking to himself, how on earth did he miss that Potter was abused then he thought to himself most probably due to the fact you think she is like her father

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock. **

**"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?" **

''I don't know maybe it disappeared like magic.'' said the twins sarcastically

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologised over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Veronica had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Veronica at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Veronica was talking to it, weren't you, Veronica?" **

''Now your going to get in trouble aren't you pup.'' said Sirius sadly

''What is it to you, it is not like you care anyway.'' said Ronnie

''Veronica what did i say about your attitude, you do know your not to old to go over my knee.'' said Remus quietly to Ronnie who just shrugged her shoulders while internally cringing

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Veronica. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy. **

**Veronica lay in her dark cupboard much later, with a sore and swollen back from the beating she received, wishing she had a watch.**

Before anyone could comment on the beating she received Ronnie said '' It happened 4 years ago, get over it i have.'' while thinking she still is not over it but she doesn't want to appear weak in front of every one

**She didn't know what time it was and she couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, she couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food. **

''That explains why you are never caught Potter.'' said Snape while lacking his usual sneer

**She'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as she could remember, ever since she'd been a baby and her parents had died in that car crash. She couldn't remember being in the car when her parents had died. Sometimes, when she strained her memory during long hours in her cupboard, she came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burn- ing pain on her forehead.**

''You can remember that.'' said Dumbledore

''Yes and a whole lot more thanks to the dementors.'' said Ronnie

While everyone was thinking no one should have to relive the night their parents died

**This, she supposed, was the crash, though she couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. She couldn't remember her parents at all. Her aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course she was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house. **

''I have some now thanks to Hagrid.'' said Ronnie fondly

**When she had been younger, Veronica had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take her away, but it had never happened;**

Both Remus and Sirius looked guilty at this but Ronnie just ignored them, served them right

**the Dursleys were her only family. Yet sometimes she thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know her. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to her once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Veronica furiously if she knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at her once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken her hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Veronica tried to get a closer look. **

''I thought people were not able to get anywhere near where Miss Potter lived.'' said McGonnagal quietly to Dumbledore

''They are not supposed to, i may have to check the wards.'' said Dumbledore quietly

**At school, Veronica had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Veronica Potter in her baggy old clothes, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

'' That is the end of the chapter, who wants to read next.'' said Mione

''I will read next Miss Granger.'' said Dumbledore

''Can you just hold of for a bit as Sirius and I would really like to have a chat with Veronica.'' said Remus while Ronnie was trying to get off his lap

''Sure why don't we take a 30 minute break then we will get back to the book.'' said Dumbledore

Remus and Sirius stood up and had to drag Ronnie out of the room


	4. Family Talk

Sirius and Remus got up and held on to Ronnie tightly so she couldn't get away, they basically had to drag her from the room, once they got into the hallway Remus picked her up and put her over his shoulder. ''Put me down, you have no right to drag me wherever you want.'' screamed Ronnie, all the people in the other room were just staring in shock as they heard Ronnie scream.

''That girl needs some disiclipne, there is no need to be kicking and screaming just because she does not want to talk about what happened with her relatives.'' said Mrs Weasley

''I understand where Ronnie is coming from it must be hard to not have people believe you when your relatives are abusing you to then go to someone caring about you, how would you feel about that.'' said Mione

**Upstairs**

Sirius and Remus finally made it up to their room with Ronnie so they could talk to her. Once in the room Remus put her on the bed while Sirius locked the door so she could not escape.

''Ronnie look at us please, we are only doing this because we care about you.'' said Remus

Ronnie looked up at them and they could see that she was angry as her killing curse eyes were shining brightly and her hair had turned red. ''No you don't care about me, because you were never there for me when i needed you the most so do not start with that bullshit ...'' when suddenly Remus cut her off '' Veronica Lily Potter you will never use that foul language infront of Sirius and me ever again do you hear me.''

''It is not like you can stop me, you are not my parents, i can do whatever i want to do, so you can just shut the hell up and leave me alone.'' said Ronnie angrily

Sirius has had enough of her attitude and language so he got down to her level and said ''Veronica do not use launguage like that in front of my husband or me because you will not like the consequences, we do care about you very much and this is our way of showing you.''

Ronnie had enough of them telling her to stop her attiutude and language so she got up and tried to walk over to the door to get out when suddenly Remus had grabbed her by the arm.

''Where do you think you are going young lady.'' said Remus

''I am trying to get away from you two pain in my arses.'' snapped Ronnie

That was the final straw for Remus and Sirius, Remus sat down on the bed and put Ronnie over his lap.

''Veronica you are now going to recieve a spanking because time and time again both Sirius and I have told you to watch your attitude and language but you have not done so.'' said Remus sadly

Both Sirius and Remus did not want to do this but she had to learn that her attitude is not acceptable, Ronnie is trying to get off Remus' lap buthe held her their firmly.

''I say 20 will be enough to get the message through.'' said Remus

So he stared to spank her bottom and first she just laid there trying not to cry but when it came down to the last 5 she could not longer hold her tears in, once it was over Remus tried to give her a hug but she wasn't having any of it, she mangaged to scramble off his lap and open the door and run downstairs to get away from them.

While on her way downstairs she was thinking to herself 'they don't care because if they did they would not have spanked me'

She ran into the room where they were reading the books and everyone just stared at her wondering why she was crying, she then suddenly launched herself at Charlie as she needed a hug.

This is how Remus and Sirius found her when they walked into the room.

''Veronica we were not done with out discussion we still have things to talk about so come back upstairs so we can sort things out.'' said Sirius

''No i am staying here so we can get the books over and done with then i can go back to school.'' said Ronnie

''Would you please come sit with us as im sure Charlie would like it if you stopped sitting in his lap cluching on to him.'' said Remus

''What do you know, he actually likes me sitting in his lap as i am his girlfriend.'' said Ronnie while turing to look at charlie in the face and kissed him passionately.

''How long has this been going of for you lady.'' said Remus and Sirius together

''Well i have liked him ever since i first saw him when i was in 1st year, then we wrote to each other all the time and when i finally saw him at the summer befor 4th year i knew that i was in love with him so i kissed him and we got together.'' said Ronnie while smiling at Charlie

''And before you say he is to old for me or that i am too young, just rememeber that i do not give a damn what you say i love him and i will not break up with him because he is in my life to stay.'' said Ronnie while everyone but Ron and Mione looked shocked

''So who's turn is it to read.'' asked Ronnie

''I believe it was my turn Ronnie.'' said Dumbledore smiling at the girl.

''Cool let's get this over with.'' said Ronnie feeling a little bit happier now that everyone knew about her and Charlie.


	5. Letters From No One

**"Letters From No One."**

"How do you get letters from no one?" Sirius asked.

**The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Veronica her longest-ever punishment. By the time she was allowed out of her cupboard again, the summer holidays had started**

"And when is Dudley's birthday." said Remus

"April." muttered Ronnie, but they all heard her anyway.

**and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.**

"What a horrible boy, he is in serious need of some discipline." said McGonnagall

**Veronica was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader.**

"Genious way of thinking that is." muttered Snape

**The rest of them were quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Veronica Hunting.**

"Let's go Dudley Hunting." said the twins and most nodded their agreement

**This was why Veronica spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where she could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came she would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in her life, she wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny.**

"**They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Veronica. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"**

"**No, thanks," said Veronica. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it – it might be sick." Then she ran, before Dudley could work out what she'd said.**

"That was very Slytherin of you Potter." sneered Snape without his usual malice. Ronnie just decided not to pay attention to that wondering how how everyone was going to act when they find out the hat wanted to put her in Slytherin.

**One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Veronica at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Veronica watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that she did not eat as it looked like she had had it a long time. **

"Ewww how can anyone do that to chocolate." said Remus

"Well it's not our fault your a chocoholic." snapped Ronnie

"Veronica what have we told you about your attitude." said Sirius

"That you want it to change, but i do not see that happening anytime soon so get over it already." said Ronnie as everyone was looking at her incredueously thinking how can she speak to her guardians that way

"Veronica that is no way to speak to your guardians." screeched Mrs Weasley, Ronnie just rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath "Shut it you old hag."

**That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.**

"How is that good training for later life." said Tonks

"Well we have wands and that is basically the same thing." said Ronnie.

**As she looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins, he looked so handsome and grown-up. Veronica didn't trust herself to speak. She thought two of her ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.**

"One of the hardest things to do in my life that was." laughed Ronnie

**There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Veronica went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. She went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water.**

"**Whats this?" she asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.**

"Ohh look you asked a question." siad the twins wide eyed

"**Your new school uniform," she said.**

**Veronica looked in the bowl again.**

"**oh," she said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."**

"She doesn't understand sarcasm Potter." sneered Snape

"I know that, but how in the hell do you know that." said Ronnie looking at Snape with hatred

"That is none of your business Potter." said Snape

"Well you made it my business when you spoke." snapped Ronnie

Dumbledore had finally had enough of their bickering so he said "That is enough you two, if you can't speak nicely to each other do not speak to each other at all." He then carried on reading the book.

"**Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."**

**Veronica seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. She sat down at the table and tried not to think about how she was going to look on her first day at Stonewall High – like she was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.**

**Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Veronica's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table. **

"Eww that means he took it to the toilet with him." said Ginny

"Thanks for that visual Ginny, just what i needed." said Ronnie while grimacing.

**They heard the click of the mail slot and the flop of letters on the doormat.**

"**Get **_**the**_** mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.**

"**Make Ronnie get it."**

"**Get the mail, Girl."**

"**Make Dudley get it."**

"**Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley."**

**Veronica dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and – **_**a letter for Veronica**_**.**

"Finally you got your Hogwarts letter." cheered Sirius

**Veronica picked it and stared at it, her heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in her whole life, had written to her. Who would? She had no friends, no other relatives – she didn't belong to the library, so she'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:**

_**Ms. V. Potter**_

_**The Cupboard under the Stairs 4 Privet Drive**_

_**Little Whinging**_

_**Surrey**_

"How come any of you didn't notice that she was in a cupboard." said Remus angrily

"Self-addressing quills, i think in future we better keep an eye on them so this does not escape our attention againn." said McGonnagall

**The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink.**

**There was no stamp.**

**Turning the envelope over, her hand trembling, Veronica saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter **_**H. **_

"**Hurry up, girl!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you dong, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.**

"That was a joke." said the twins, looking positively faint

"Well his attempt at a joke anyway." said Ronnie

**Veronica went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. She handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope. Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard.**

"**Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk..."**

"Shame she didnt't die." muttered Ronnie, but Remus heard her anyway

"Veronica that was not a very nice thing to say." snapped Remus

"Well she is not a very nice person, and deserves to die." Ronnie snapped back.

"Ronnie we will be having another discussion on your attitude later."said Sirius

"Nothings going to change so what is the point." said Ronnie rolling her eyes.

"**Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Ronnie's got something!"**

"Tattletale." said Mione

**Veronica was on the point of unfolding his letter, **

"Veronica, you should of opened it somewhere more private," Remus said.

"I didn't realise that they would care that i recieved a letter." snapped Ronnie

Remus and Sirius where trying to figure out what to to with her attitude as it was not something they liked.

**which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of her hand by Uncle Vernon.**

"**That's **_**mine **_**!" said Veronica, trying to snatch it back.**

"**Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge.**

"Never eating porridge again." saud Ron looking green.

"**P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.**

**Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.**

"**Vernon! Oh my goodness – Vernon!"**

"That sounds really rude." said the twins looking green

"Thanks guys just the image i needed in my head." said Ronnie faintly looking green

**They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Veronica and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.**

"What a disgusting boy." said Mrs Weasley

"**I want to read that letter," he said loudly.**

"It's not your letter to read you fat tub of lard." snapped Mione

"Mione i love you, never knew you had it in you." laughed ROnnie while winking at her

"Anything for you doll." said Mione flirtasiously

"_**I**_** want to read it," said Veronica furiously, "as it's **_**mine**_**."**

"**Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.**

**Veronica didn't move.**

"**I WANT MY LETTER!" she shouted.**

"Yup, you definitely have your moms temper," Remus said sighing.

"And don't you forget it." said Ronnie quietly

"**Let **_**me**_** see it!" demanded Dudley.**

"**Out!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Veronica and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them. Veronica and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Veronica won as she kneeed him in the balls.**

All of the males in the room all had the same thought 'Do not piss of Ronnie'.

"**Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address – how could they possibly know where she sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"**

"**Watching – spying – might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.**

"Why would we want to spy on you." muttered Snape

"**But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want -"**

**Veronica could see her uncle's purple face as he paced up and down the kitchen.**

"**No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer... Yes, that's best... we won't do anything..."**

"**But - "**

"**I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took her in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"**

The glasses on the table shattered and the lights where flickering, everyone looked around wondering where the power was coming from when they noticed Dumbledore with the fire in his eyes.

"I am so very sorry my dear girl, can you ever forgive me for placing you with these people, i will make sure you will not be going back there." said Dumbledore looking sadley at Ronnie

"I am sure i could forgive you over time but at the moment i am not so sure." said Ronnie

**That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Veronica in her cupboard.**

"He fit." said Ron

"Only his head." said Ronnie

"**Where's my letter?" said Veronica, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door.**

"**Who's writing to me?" **

"**No one. It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned it."**

"That is wrong, how dare you burn other people's mail." said McGonnagall

"**It was **_**not**_** a mistake," said Veronica angrily, "it had my cupboard on it."**

"**SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling.**

Ron shuddered, how he hated spiders.

**He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.**

"**Er – yes, Veronica – about this cupboard. Your Aunt and I have been thinking... you're really getting a bit big for it... we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom."**

"That fat tub of lard had 2 bedrooms and you had to sleep in a cupboard." shouted Mione

"**Why?" said Veronica.**

"Why question it." said Tonks

"He was being nie so i wanted to know what the catch was." said Ronnie

"**Don't ask questions!" snapped her uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now."**

**The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom. It only took Veronica one trip upstairs to move everything she owned from the cupboard to this room. She sat down on the bed and stared around her. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbor's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favorite program had been canceled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched.**

"Poor books never being read." said Mione while some people shook their head in exaperation

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, "I don't **_**want**_** her in there... I **_**need**_** that room... make her get out... She has girl germs."**

"That was the first time he didn't get what he wanted," Ronnie said.

**Veronica sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday she'd have given anything to be up here. Today she'd rather be back in her cupboard with that letter than up here without it.**

**Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back. Veronica was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing she'd opened the letter in the hall. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly. **

**When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Veronica, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! 'Ms. V. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive -"**

"What an idiot." said Ron

"Definatley an idiot." said Ronnie

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Veronica right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Veronica had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind. **

"So you already practised grabbing people around the neck." laughed Ron.

"Yup i certainly did." said Ronnie while Mione said "I am guessing the next spet was shoving something up the nose." Then they all burst out laughing while everyone was wondering what they were laughing about.

**After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Veronica's letter clutched in his hand.**

"**Go to your cupboard – I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Veronica. "Dudley – go – just go."**

**Veronica walked round and round her new room. Someone knew she had moved out of her cupboard and they seemed to know she hadn't received her first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? And this time she'd make sure they didn't fail. She had a plan.**

"Oh no not a plan." said Mione

"What is wrong with my plans huh." said Ronnie glaring at Mione

"When you think on your feet then everything is good but when you plan something always go wrong." said Mione

"I guess your right." said Ronnie

**The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Veronica turned it off quickly and dressed silently. She mustn't wake the Dursleys. She stole downstairs without turning on any lights. **

**She was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. **

"Thats not a bad plan." said Remus

**Her heart hammered as she crept across the dark hall toward the front door - **

"**AAAARRRGH!" **

**Veronica leapt into the air; she'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat – something **_**alive**_**!**

"Oh, man, the git thought of it too," Sirius said.

**Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Veronica realized that the big, squashy something had been her uncle's face. Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Veronica didn't do exactly what she'd been trying to do. He shouted at Veronica for about half an hour and then told her to go make a cup of tea. Veronica shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time she got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Veronica could see three letters addressed in green ink.**

"**I want -" she began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before her eyes.**

**Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot.**

"**See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't **_**deliver**_** them they'll just give up."**

"**I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."**

"**Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock a nail with a piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.**

"Thank god our minds work in different ways to yours Dursley." said Charlie

**On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Veronica. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom.**

"That was hilarious as Dudley was using the loo at the time." Ronnie said Laughing while everyone was looking green and thinking they didn't need to know that.

**Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises.**

"He has cracked." said Bill

"He was already cracked Bill." said Ronnie

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Veronica found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two-dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.**

"**Who on earth wants to talk to**_** you**_** this badly?" Dudley asked Veronica in amazement. **

"Loads of people do, i am surprised you didn't get any letters from all your fans, i know i wrote to you a few times." said Ron blushing

Ronnie looked up at Dumbledore angrily everyone in the room could feel the power radiating of her.

"Care to explain why i did not recieve those letters headmaster." snapped Ronnie

"I felt it was best that you did not recieve any of those letters as it would have made your relatives agnry." said Dumbledore

"So once again you do what you think is right, never thinking of the consequences." said Ronnie

"That is enough Veronica, i agree with the headmaster and it was a good idea to keep the letters away from you, as you most probably would become big headed." said Remus

"Can't you just shut the hell up and stop dictating my life." snapped Ronnie

That was the final straw for Sirius, he got up and went to where Ronnie was sitting and picked her up and made her sit in his lap while whispering in her ear "Lay off the attitude, you already have go yourself another spanking you do not want to pile them up."

She just huffed and sat there glaring at the wall turing her hair red out of anger.

**On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy.**

"**No post on Sundays," he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today -"**

"Huh why no post on sundays." asked Mr Weasley

"It is the day of rest Mr Weasley." said Mione

**Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Veronica leapt into the air trying to catch one -**

"Why not pick one up off the floor." said Ron

Ronnie just sat there ignoring everyone, she was not in the mood for speaking

"**Out! OUT!" **

**Uncle Vernon seized Veronica around the waist and threw her into the hall where she hit her head on the wall. When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.**

"**That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his mustache at the same time. "I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"**

**He looked so dangerous with half his mustache missing that no one dared argue. Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him around the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.**

"Finally i was wondering when that boy was going to get some punishment." huffed McGonnagall while looking over at Ronnie worridly, wondering where this attitude was coming from.

**They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while.**

"**Shake'em off... shake'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.**

"I think he needs to be in a mental asylum." said Ron

"You got that right Ron." said Ronnie with no emotion

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.**

"Welcome to my life, Dudley," Ronnie said.

**Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Veronica shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Veronica stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering...**

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast** **the next day. They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to the their table.**

"**Scuse me, but is one of you Ms. V. Potter? Only I got about an'undred of these at the front desk."**

**She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:**

_**Ms. V. Potter**_

_**Room 17 **_

_**Railview Hotel**_

_**Cokeworth**_

**Veronica made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked her hand out of the way. The woman stared.**

"Yeah just stare while my unccle hits me." muttered Ronnie angrily

"**I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining room.**

"**Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her.**

"Ofcourse he wouldn't listen to her as that would imply something getting through to his brain." said the twins and Ronnie just burst out laughing

**Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.**

"**Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon.**

"Wow, he has gone so crazy, even his son realized it," Sirius said. Ronnie just rolled her eyes.

**Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared. It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley sniveled.**

"**It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a **_**television**_**."**

**Monday. This reminded Veronica of something. It it **_**was**_** Monday – and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days of the week, because of television – then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Veronica's eleventh birthday.**

"Happy Birthday Ronnie." shouted the twins, Ron, Ginny and Mione

**Of course, her birthday were never exactly fun – last year, the Dursleys had given her a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.**

**Still, you weren't eleven every day.**

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling.**

"Not good if he is smiling." said Kingsley and everyone jumped as he had be so quiet

**He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought.**

"**Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"**

**It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television in there.**

"**Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"**

**A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them.**

"**I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!"**

**It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.**

**The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and fireplace was damp empty. There were only two rooms.**

**Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas. He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up. **

"Those aren't rations," Ron said.

"**Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully.**

"Bastered." muttered Charlie under his breath

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail. **

**Veronica privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer her up at all.**

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hunt and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few moldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went to the lumpy bed next door, and Veronica was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.**

"Of course, you have to sleep on the floor and have the most ragged blanket, who cares if you get sick, stupid Dursleys," Mrs Weasley said angrily.

"Don't worry, I didn't get sick," Ronnie said.

"Still, I don't like it," Mrs Weasley muttered.

Ronnie just rolled her eyes.

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Vweonica couldn't sleep. She shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, her stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Veronica she'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. She lay and watched her birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter writer was now.**

**Five minutes to go. Veronica heard something creak outside. She hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although she might be warmer if it did.**

**Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that she'd be able to steal one somehow.**

**Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea?**

**One minute to go and she'd be eleven. Thirty seconds... Twenty... ten... nine – maybe she'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him – three... two... one... **

" Do it, Do it, Do it." chanted the twins

**BOOM**

**The whole shack shivered and Veronica sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.**

"That's the end of the chapter, so who will like to read next." said Dumbledore

"I might as well read next considering it is all about me." said Ronnie.


	6. The Keeper Of The Keys

"**The Keeper of the Keys," **

**BOOM. **

**They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake. **

"**Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly. **

**There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands – now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them. **

"How stupid is he, he brought a gun where there were children about." said Mione

**There was a pause. Then — **

**SMASH! **

**The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor. **

"Way to make an entrance Hagrid," Sirius said chuckled.

**A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair. **

**The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all. **

"**Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey…"**

"Typical Hagrid." said Charlie

**He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear. **

"**Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger. **

**Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon. **

"Didn't help matters much, you could still see him." said Ronnie

"**An' here's Veronica!" said the giant. **

**Veronica looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile. **

"**Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mom's eyes." Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.**

"First time i ever heard that, but it gets annoying now." said Ronnie

"**I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!" **

"**Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," **

"Go Hagrid!" Fred and George yelled grinning.

**said the giant; he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room. **

**Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on. **

"**Anyway — Veronica," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here — I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right." **

"What ever you do, don't eat it." said Kingsley

"It actually tasted pretty fine, not sure Hagrid made it." said Ronnie

**From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Veronica opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with **_**Happy Birthday Veronica **_**written on it in green icing.**

"Why is it green icing for." said Ron

"Well my eyes are green, that is most probably why." said Ronnie

**Veronica looked up at the giant and said, "I don't really know who you are, but thank you for the cake."**

**The giant chuckled. **

"Why do you keep calling him a giant." said Charlie

"It is not like i knew he was a half giant or the fact that he did not introduce himself." snapped Ronnie

"I am sorry babe i don't mean to go on at you." said Charlie sheepishly, Ronnie just gave him a kiss

"**True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." **

**He held out an enormous hand and shook Veronica's whole arm. **

"**What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind." **

"You do not drink in front of children, why did you send Hagrid to pick her up anyway." said Mrs Weasley

"It was either Hagrid or Severus, so we went with Hagrid." said McGonnagall

"Well i thank you for that professor because if you had sent Snape, i am not sure i would still be alive." said Ronnie

**His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shrivelled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Veronica felt the warmth wash over her as though she'd sunk into a hot bath. **

"He is not allowed to do magic." said Mrs Weasley

"Yes he is, he was cleared off all charges. And it was never his fault in the first place." said Ronnie

"You do not talk to me like that young lady." Snapped Mrs Weasley

"Well you have no right talking to me like that as well. You are not my parent or guardian and never will be so shut up and leave me alone." snapped Ronnie

"Veronica, it is not nice to snap at people and how many times do i have to tell you about your attitude, it has got to change, you know what the consequences are if it doesn't." said Remus

Whatever, like i am going to listen to you." said Ronnie under her breath but not quiet enough as both Sirius and Remus heard her.

While everyone was wondering why Veronica was acting like that towards Sirius and Remus, and also what where the consequences of her attitude.

**The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea. **

**Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley." **

**The giant chuckled darkly. **

"**Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."**

"Go Hagrid." shouted the twins

**He passed the sausages to Veronica, who was so hungry, she had never tasted anything so wonderful, but she still couldn't take her eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, she said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are." **

**The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. **

"**Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts — yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course. **

"No she doesn't**, **all thanks to her stupid relatives." Sirius muttered darkly.

"**Er — no," said Veronica. **

**Hagrid looked shocked. **

"**Sorry," Veronica said quickly. **

"Why are you apologising? You have nothing to be sorry for. It's those damn relatives of yours." McGonnogall said gently.

"Everything is always my fault, that is why i always apologise." said Ronnie

"_**Sorry**_**?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learned it all?" **

"**All what?" asked Veronica.**

"That won't make Hagrid happy." Bill said, smiling.

"**ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. **

"**Now wait jus' one second!" **

**He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall. **

"**Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this girl — this girl! — knows nothin' abou' — about ANYTHING?"**

"That made me feel stupid" said Ronnie

**Veronica thought this was going a bit far. She had been to school, after all, and her marks weren't bad. **

"**I know **_**some **_**things," she said. "I can, you know, do math and science."**

"Don't think that is what he meant pookie." said Mione

"Yeah i suspect your right doll." said Ronnie, while everyone was staring at the girls wondering what was with all the names they were calling each other

**But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About **_**our **_**world, I mean. **_**Your **_**world. **_**My **_**world. **_**Yer parents' world**_**." **

"**What world?" **

**Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode. **

"**DURSLEY!" he boomed. **

**Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble." Hagrid stared wildly at Veronica. "But yeh must know about yer mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're **_**famous**_**. You're **_**famous**_**."**

"**What? My — my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?" **

"**Yeh don' know… yeh don' know…" Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Veronica with a bewildered stare. **

"**Yeh don' know what yeh **_**are**_**?" he said finally. **

**Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice. **

"**Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the girl anything!"**

"Like you can forbid Hagrid." said Charlie

**A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage. **

"**You never told her? Never told her what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer her? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from her all these years?" **

"**Kept **_**what **_**from me?" said Veronica eagerly. **

"**STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic. **

**Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror. **

"**Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Veronica — yer a witch." **

**There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard. **

"**I'm a **_**what**_**?" gasped Veronica. **

"Don't worry about it, i said the exact same thing." said Mione

"**A witch, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good 'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter." **

"FINALLY!" Shouted everyone.

**Veronica stretched out her hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to **_**Ms. V. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. **_**She pulled out the letter and read: **

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY **_

_**Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE **_

_**(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards) **_

_**Dear Miss. Potter, **_

_**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. **_

_**Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31. **_

_**Yours sincerely, **_

_**Minerva McGonagall, **_

_**Deputy Headmistress **_

**Questions exploded inside Veronica's head like fireworks and she couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes she stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?" **

"What a stupid question to ask." said Sirius

"Well excuse me for asking such a stupid question, when Hagrid actually gave me my letter on the 31st of July." said Ronnie sarcastically

"There is no need to take that tone with me young lady." said Sirius tiredly as he had had enough of her attitude.

"**Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl — a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl** — **a long quill, and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Veronica could read upside down: **

_**Dear Professor Dumbledore, **_

_**Given Veronica her letter. **_

_**Taking her to buy her things tomorrow. **_

_**Weather's horrible. Hope you're well. **_

_**Hagrid **_

"Man i can not even read Hagrid's writing the right way up, how do you manage to read it upside down." said Kingsley looking at the blushing girl

"One of my many talents." said Ronnie

**Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone. **

**Veronica realised her mouth was open and closed it quickly. **

"**Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight. **

"**She's not going," he said. **

"Who are you to stop her?" Snape said quietly so no one could hear.

**Hagrid grunted. **

"**I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop her," he said. **

"**A what?" said Veronica, interested. **

"**A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call non magic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on." **

"Figuratively and literally speaking." said Ronnie

"Veronica that is enough bad mouthing your relatives, we get you do not like them but you do not have to keep being horrible about them." said Remus at his wit's end

"I HATE YOU." screamed Ronnie then she curled herself up in a ball crying. Charlie picked her up and put her on his lap so he could comfort her while glaring at Remus for upsetting his girl.

"**We swore when we took her in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of her! Witch indeed!" **

"**You **_**knew**_**?" said Veronica. "You **_**knew **_**I'm a — a Witch?" **

"**Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "**_**Knew**_**! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was?**

"LILY WAS NOT DRATTED!" Sirius, Remus and Snape yelled. The people who didn't know of the friendship between Snape and Lily looked at him shocked.

**Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that — that **_**school **_**— and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats. **

**I was the only one who saw her for what she was — a freak! **

"My mum was not a freak, now do you see why i bad mouth them, they are always dissing my parent in front of me and i will not stand for it. said Ronnie icily while the lights started to flicker and her hair turned red.

**But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!" **

**She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years. **

"She probably had." Veronica whispered.

"**Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as — as —**_**abnormal **_— **and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"**

"I can't believe she told you like that." Remus choked out

"Well i had to find out some way, why not like that, it was the only way to find out, it's not like there was anyone else to tell me.." said Ronnie angrily

**Veronica had gone very white. As soon as she found her voice she said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!" **

"**CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Veronica Potter not knowin' her own story when every kid in our world knows her name!"**

"Wish they didn't," Veronica muttered.

"**But why? What happened?" Veronica asked urgently. **

**The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious. **

"**I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Veronica, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh — but someone's gotta — yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'." **

**He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys. **

"**Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh — mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it…" **

**He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with — with a person called — but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows —"**

"**Who?" **

"**Well — I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does." **

"**Why not?" **

"**Gulpin' gargoyles, Veronica, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went… bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was…" **

**Hagrid gulped, but no words came out. **

"**Could you write it down?" Veronica suggested. **

"That was sweet of you dear." Mrs Weasley said smiling at Veronica.

"**Nah — can't spell it. All right —**_**Voldemort**_**. " **

"I can't believe you got him to say the name." Sirius said looking shocked. Him, James and Remus had constantly tried but had never been able to get him to. Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling madly.

"Well i have been known to do the impossible." said Veronica

**Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this — this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too — some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Veronica. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches… terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him — an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway. **

"**Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before… probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side. **

"**Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em… maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' — an' —" **

**Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn. **

There wasn't many dry eyes in the room.

"**Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad — knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find — anywa… **

"**You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then — an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing — he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. **

**Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh — took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even — but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Veronica. **

**No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age — the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts **

— **an' you was only a baby, an' you lived." **

**Something very painful was going on in Veronica's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, she saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than she had ever remembered it before — and she remembered something else, for the first time in her life: a high, cold, cruel laugh. **

"You remember that." said Sirius

"Yes and a lot more thanks to the dementor in my 3rd year." said Ronnie

**Hagrid was watching her sadly. **

"**Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot…." **

"**Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Veronica jumped; she had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched. **

"**Now, you listen here, girl," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you,**

**probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured **

"Yes and we know you tried." Remus growled.

— **and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdoes, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion **

— **asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types — just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end -" **

"That bastard better hope he doesn't see me. He is dead if he ever does." Sirius and Remus growled.

**But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. **

**Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley — I'm warning you — one more word…" **

**In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent. **

"**That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor. **

**Veronica, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.**

"You always have questions babe." said Charlie

"**But what happened to Vol-, sorry — I mean, You-Know-Who?" **

"**Good question, Veronica. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see… he was gettin' more an' more powerful — why'd he go? **

"**Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. **

Dumbledore looked thoughtful at that but only Ronnie caught the look and it was gone before she was sure of what it was.

**Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back. **

"**Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Veronica. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on — **_**I **_**dunno what it was, no one does **— **but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."**

**Hagrid looked at Veronica with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Veronica, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake.**

**A witch? Her? How could she possibly be? She'd spent her life being clouted by Dudley, and bullied by Aunt Petunia and beaten by Uncle Vernon; if she was really a witch, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock her in her cupboard? If she'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley and Uncle Vernon had always been able to kick her around like a football?**

It doesn't work like that Potter." said Mad eye, while a lot of people jumped as he had been quiet for so long

"**Hagrid," she said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a witch." **

**To her surprise, Hagrid chuckled. **

"**Not a witch, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?" **

**Veronica looked into the fire. Now she came to think about it… every odd thing that had ever made her aunt and uncle furious with her had happened when she, Veronica, had been upset or angry… chased by Dudley's gang, she had somehow found herself out of their reach… dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, she'd managed to make it grow back… and the very last time Dudley had hit her, hadn't she got her revenge, without even realising she was doing it? Hadn't she set a boa constrictor on him? **

**Veronica looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at her. **

"**See?" said Hagrid. "Veronica Potter, not a witch — you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."**

"Wish i wasn't famous." said Ronnie

**But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight. **

"**Haven't I told you she's not going?" he hissed. "She's going to Stonewall High and she'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and she needs all sorts of rubbish — spell books and wands and —" **

"**If she wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop her," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter's daughter goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. Her name's been down ever since she was born. **

**She's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and she won't know herself. She'll be with youngsters of her own sort, fer a change, an' she'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had Albus Dumbled—" **

"**I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.**

"That was really, really stupid." The twins said laughing wondering what Hagrid was going to do.

**But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER —" he thundered, "— INSULT — ALBUS — DUMBLEDORE — IN — FRONT — OF — ME!" He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley — there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Aroura saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers. **

There wasn't one person who wasn't laughing in the room now and it took 5 minutes for everyone to calm down and continue to read.

**Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them. **

**Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard. **

"**Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do." **

"Brilliant." Sirius said.

**He cast a sideways look at Veronica under his bushy eyebrows. **

"**Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm — er — not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff — one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job." **

"**Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Veronica. **

"**Oh, well — I was at Hogwarts meself but I — er — got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore." **

"**Why were you expelled?" **

"He tells no one, so good luck." said Sirius

While the golden trio tried not to look so smug.

"**It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that." **

**He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Veronica. **

"**You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' doormice in one o' the pockets."**

"That is the end on the chapter, who wants to read next." said Ronnie

"I will, it should be about your trip to diagon alley." said Sirius so Ronnie just chucked the book at him not really caring if he caught it or not while both Sirius and Remus were figuring out what to do about her attitude as they did not like it.


	7. Diagon Alley

"**Diagon Alley,"**

**Veronica woke early the next morning. Although she could tell it was daylight, she kept her eyes shut tight. **

_**It was a dream, **_**she told herself firmly. **_**I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for witches and wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard. **_

"That is really sad. You shouldn't have had to think like that." Tonks said looking sadly at the girl she had just met.

**There was suddenly a loud tapping noise. **

_**And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door**_**, Veronica thought, her heart sinking.**

**But she still didn't open her eyes. It had been such a good dream.**

**Tap. Tap. Tap. **

"**All right," Veronica mumbled, "I'm getting up." **

**She sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off him. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak. **

**Veronica scrambled to her feet, so happy she felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside her. She went straight to the window and jerked it open.**

"A happy balloon? Man you need to think of better descriptions. What is a happy balloon anyway." Fred said. Veronica just glared at the identical boy and Fred back away scared.

**The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat. **

"**Don't do that." **

**Veronica tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at her and carried on savaging the coat. **

"**Hagrid!" said Veronica loudly. "There's an owl —" **

"**Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa. **

"She's not going to know what that means." Charlie said, laughing.

"Do not laugh at me Char." said Ronnie pouting

"**What?" **

"**He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets." **

**Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing **_**but **_**pockets — bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags… finally, Veronica pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins. **

"**Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily. **

"Again not going to know what that means." Charlie grumbled.

"Charlie, we know." Bill shouted annoyed.

"Charlie Bear please give it a rest." said Ronnie pouting at him, as everyone burst out laughing at Charlie's nickname

"Do not laugh at his nickname, i gave it too him, and sorry Charlie i didn't mean to embarrass you." said Ronnie looking at him sadly

"Don't worry Spit Fire i forgive you." said Charlie while Ronnie gave him a kiss.

"**Knuts?" **

"**The little bronze ones." **

**Veronica counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out her leg so Veronica could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off through the open window. **

**Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched.**

"Why didn't he just do it himself if he was just going to get up himself." Mrs Weasley snapped.

"He was getting me used to the money." snapped Ronnie right back

"**Best be off, Veronica, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school." **

**Veronica was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. She had just thought of something that made her feel as though the happy balloon inside her had got a puncture.**

Ronnie just glared at the twins before they could even open their mouths.

"**Um — Hagrid?" **

"**Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots. **

"**I haven't got any money — and you heard Uncle Vernon last night… he won't pay for me to go and learn magic." **

"**Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?" **

"**But if their house was destroyed —" **

"They didn't keep their money in the house Veronica." Sirius said slowly like he was talking to a 3 year old. Veronica glared at him.

"**They didn' keep their gold in the house, girl! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold — an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither." **

"**Wizards and Witches have **_**banks**_**?" **

"**Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins." **

**Veronica dropped the bit of sausage she was holding. **

"_**Goblins**_**?" **

"Yes goblins Veronica." Fred said pushing his boundaries.

"You have got to stop this. I know this stuff now. This was all new to me so shut up." Veronica yelled frustrated. Fred's eyes grew wide and he nodded as did everyone else.

"Veronica, what have we told you about your attitude, there is no need to yell at people." said Remus

"Just shut the hell up and stop telling me what to do, you are not my dad and never will be." shouted Ronnie

"**Yeah — so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, Veronica. **

"So Ronnie, reckon me, you and Mione are mad enough to rob Gringotts." said Ron

"You never know, but if we ever did that, we would totally get away with it." said Ronnie

Mione just looked amused at the thought of robbing Gringotts, while the adults where thinking let's hope they do not decide to rob Gringotts.

**Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe — 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you — gettin' things from Gringotts — knows he can trust me, see." **

"**Got everythin'? Come on, then." Veronica followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm. **

"**How did you get here?" Veronica asked, looking around for another boat. **

"**Flew," said Hagrid. **

"_**Flew**_**?" **

"**Yeah — but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh." **

**They settled down in the boat, Veronica still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying. **

"So are we." Fred and George said together looking thoroughly confused. Everyone chuckled at their expressions.

"I think he must have used a Threstral." said Ronnie

"**Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Veronica another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter — er — speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?" **

"**Of course not," said Veronica, eager to see more magic. Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off toward land. **

"**Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Veronica asked. **

"**Spells — enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there's dragons guardin' the high security vaults. And then yeh gotta find yer way — Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."**

"He just knows the right things to say to get me interested in robbing Gringotts." laughed Ronnie

**Veronica sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the **_**Daily Prophet**_**. Veronica had learned from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, she'd never had so many questions in her life. **

"**Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page. **

"**There's a Ministry of Magic?" Veronica asked, before she could stop herself. **

"'**Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one. So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."**

"Of course he is a bloody idiot, most probably get's sacked after everyone finds out Voldemort is back." said Ronnie

"Ronnie please can you cool it down with insulting people." said Sirius sadly, Ronnie just ignored him

"**But what does a Ministry of Magic **_**do**_**?" **

"**Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."**

"**Why?" **

"_**Why? **_**Blimey, Veronica, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone." **

**At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbour wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper, and they clambered up the stone steps onto the street. **

**Passersby stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Veronica couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Veronica? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?" **

"Are you sure there was no one else to take her." said Mrs Weasley

"How many times do i have to tell you, leave Hagrid alone, he came and got me away from the Dursleys and told me the truth about my parents, if he didn't do it, i imagine i would have had to find out by myself which is what i have to do anyway." said Ronnie

"How dare you say things like that to me young lady, i have the right mind to put you over my knee and spank you." said Mrs Weasley angrily

"You touch me and it will be the last thing you do." said Ronnie glaring at Mrs Weasley

"Molly, while i do not atone the behaviour she is using, it is not up to you to punish Veronica, that is something my husband and i should do." said Remus

"Oh just everyone shut up and leave me alone." huffed Ronnie, while she whispered in Charlie's ear "If we ever get married we are moving out of England and not giving any of the adult our address ok." while Charlie was thinking of the idea of marrying Ronnie.

"**Hagrid," said Veronica, panting a bit as she ran to keep up, "did you say there are **_**dragons **_**at Gringotts?" **

"**Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon." **

"**You'd **_**like **_**one?" **

The trio and Charlie avoided looking at each other at the mention of a dragon.

"**Wanted one ever since I was a kid — here we go." **

**They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the bills to Veronica so she could buy their tickets.**

**People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent. **

"Never did find out what that was." Ronnie commented.

"You want to?" Bill asked. Ronnie shrugged.

"**Still got yer letter, Veronica?" he asked as he counted stitches. **

**Veronica took the parchment envelope out of her pocket. **

"**Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need." **

**Veronica unfolded a second piece of paper she hadn't noticed the night before, and read: **

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY **_

_**UNIFORM **_

_**First-year students will require: **_

_**1. Three sets of plain work robes (black) **_

_**2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear **_

_**3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar) **_

_**4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings) **_

_**Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags **_

_**COURSE BOOKS **_

_**All students should have a copy of each of the following: **_

_**The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)by Miranda Goshawk **_

_**A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot **_

_**Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling **_

_**A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch **_

_**One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore **_

_**Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger **_

_**Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander **_

_**The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble **_

_**OTHER EQUIPMENT **_

_**1 wand **_

_**1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) **_

_**1 set of glass or crystal phials **_

_**1 telescope set **_

_**1 brass scales **_

_**Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad **_

_**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS **_

"Just love to break the rules don't you Potter." sneered Snape

"It's not my fault i have talent on a broom." snapped Ronnie back

"**Can we buy all this in London?" Veronica wondered aloud. **

"**If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid. **

**Veronica had never been to London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground, and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow. **

"**I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said as they climbed a broken-down escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with shops.**

"Hagrid," Everyone groaned rolling their eyes.

**Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Veronica had to do was keep close behind him. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger restaurants and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand. This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks? Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up?**

"Nope they have no imagination." said the twins

**If Veronica hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humour, she might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told her so far was unbelievable, Veronica couldn't help trusting him.**

"Hagrid's like that." Sirius said. Ronnie smiled and nodded at him.

"**This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place." **

**It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Veronica wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Veronica had the most peculiar feeling that only she and Hagrid could see it.**

"That's because mugg-" George stopped abruptly when he saw Ronnie glaring at him. Fred chuckled at his twin before he got glared at himself.

**Before she could mention this, Hagrid had steered her inside. **

**For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut. The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the bartender reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?" **

"**Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Veronica's shoulder and making her knees buckle. **

"**Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Veronica, "is this — can this be —?" **

**The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent.**

"Wow, the Leaky Cauldron went silent. That is some power you've got there." Remus joked.

"It is not like i asked for it, i rather people didn't always stare at me." said Ronnie

"**Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Veronica Potter… what an honour." **

**He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Veronica and seized her hand, tears in his eyes. **

"**Welcome back, Miss. Potter, welcome back." **

**Veronica didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at her. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realising it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming. **

**Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Veronica found herself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.**

"Bloody nightmare that was." said Ronnie

"**Doris Crockford, Miss. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last." **

"**So proud, Miss. Potter, I'm just so proud." **

"**Always wanted to shake your hand — I'm all of a flutter." **

"**Delighted, Miss. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle." **

"**I've seen you before!" said Veronica, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop." **

"**She remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? She remembers me!" Veronica shook hands again and again — Doris Crockford kept coming back for more. **

**A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching. **

Ronnie glowered darkly at the book.

"**Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Veronica, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts." **

"**P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Veronica's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you." **

"Uh, that stutter was so annoying. And he was just putting it on for show." Ronnie muttered. Sirius raised his eyebrow but left it be for now.

"**What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?" **

"**D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. **

"**N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" **

"Of course she needs it you complete idiot." McGonnogall shouted.

"He seems like an idiot, why did he teach then if he was afraid." said Mad Eye

"Because it would have ruined someone's stupid plans." said Ronnie

**He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought. **

**But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Veronica to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble. **

"**Must get on — lots ter buy. Come on, Veronica." **

**Doris Crockford shook Veronica's hand one last time, and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds. **

**Hagrid grinned at Veronica. **

"**Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh — mind you, he's usually tremblin'." **

"**Is he always that nervous?"**

"No." Mumbled Ronnie bitterly. Hermione and Ron glared at the book. Everyone except the teachers was wondering what upset the kids like that.

"**Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience… They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag — never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject — now, where's me umbrella?" **

**Vampires? Hags? Veronica's head was swimming. Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can. **

"**Three up… two across…" he muttered. "Right, stand back, Veronica." **

**He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella. **

**The brick he had touched quivered — it wriggled — in the middle, a small hole appeared — it grew wider and wider — a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight. **

"**Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley." **

**He grinned at Veronica's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Veronica looked quickly over her shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall. **

**The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons — All Sizes — Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver — Self-Stirring — Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them. **

"You noticed cauldrons first Potter." said Snape

"Yes i did and i was really looking forward to potions until the teacher decided to hate me for what my daddy did, it was not my fault i was not even born, get over it already." said Ronnie

"**Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first." **

**Veronica wished she had about eight more eyes.**

Ron shuddered at the mention of eight eyes while the twins laughed.

"I do not know why you two are laughing, it is your fault he is afraid of them, you should apologise to him. I think it was horrible what you did to him, all over a broken toy broom." said Ronnie while the twins realised their mistake and apologise to Ron and everyone looked in awe at Ronnie for getting the twins to apologise.

**She turned her head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, sixteen Sickles an ounce, they're mad…"**

**A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium — Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about Veronica's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Veronica heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand — fastest ever —"**

Ronnie smiled at the mention of her first broom. She may have a better one now but her Nimbus was the broom that won her the first match.

**There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Veronica had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon… **

"**Gringotts," said Hagrid. **

**They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was — **

"**Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Veronica.**

**He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Veronica noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them: **

_**Enter, stranger, but take heed **_

_**Of what awaits the sin of greed, **_

_**For those who take, but do not earn, **_

_**Must pay most dearly in their turn. **_

_**So if you seek beneath our floors **_

_**A treasure that was never yours, **_

_**Thief, you have been warned, beware **_

_**Of finding more than treasure there.**_

"You have a good eye for detail Potter." said Mad Eye looking at the girl.

"**Like I said, Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.**

"See he is trying to pique my curiosity." laughed Ronnie

**A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Veronica made for the counter. **

"**Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Miss. Veronica Potter's safe." **

"**You have her key, sir?" **

"**Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of mouldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers.**

"The goblins won't like that." Bill said chuckling.

**The goblin wrinkled his nose. Veronica watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals. **

"**Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key. **

**The goblin looked at it closely. **

"**That seems to be in order." **

"**An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."**

"Never say that in front of a curious 11 year old." Remus said remembering how curious both James and Lily were.

**The goblin read the letter carefully. **

"**Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"**

**Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, he and Veronica followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall. **

"**What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Veronica asked. **

"**Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that." **

"Way to make her more interested." Mione chuckled.

**Griphook held the door open for them. Veronica, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in — Hagrid with some difficulty — and were off. **

**At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Veronica tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible.**

"You remembered more than me." Bill said surprised. Ronnie grinned and Dumbledore chuckled.

**The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering. **

**Veronica's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but she kept them wide open. Once, she thought she saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late**

"Is there a dragon there?" Charlie asked Bill dangerously quiet. Bill looked at him and said simply-

"That is official Gringott's business. I am not allowed to tell." Charlie narrowed his eyes at his elder but let it go for now as Ronnie put her fingers through his hair.

— **they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor. **

"**I never know," Veronica called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"**

"Stalagmite's-"

"I know now Hermione." Veronica said through clenched teeth.

"Oops, i forget you already knew doll." said Mione

"I didn't mean to get angry at you pookie, it just gets annoying when people say something i already knew." said Ronnie

"**Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick." **

**He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling. **

"That must have been an odd sight. Someone as big as Hagrid had his knees trembling." Ginny said. Veronica nodded smiling.

**Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Veronica gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts. **

Ronnie just adverted her eyes, as she knew the Weasley's did not have a lot of money.

"**All yours," smiled Hagrid. **

**All Veronica's — it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking. How often had they complained how much Veronica cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to her, buried deep under London. Hagrid helped Veronica pile some of it into a bag. **

"**The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"**

"**One speed only," said Griphook. **

"Why is there only one speed?" Ronnie asked Bill.

"I honestly don't know. You would have to ask a goblin but i wouldn't advise it."

**They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Veronica leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled her back by the scruff of her neck.**

"You really don't have no fear do you." said Tonks

"Oh i do but not over normal things." said Ronnie to Tonks, she was really beginning to like her

**Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole. **

"**Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away. **

"**If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook. **

"**How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Veronica asked. **

"**About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin. **

"Got to love their sick sense of humour, don't ya Bill." said Ronnie

"Why else would i work for them." laughed Bill

**Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, Veronica was sure, and she leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least **— **but at first she thought it was empty. Then she noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. **

"It's the Philosophers Stone." said Remus

Ronnie just ignored him, she thought he would figure it out as it the title of the book

"Pup please tell me you do not have anything to do with this." said Sirius

"I do not even know what it is Siri, how could you think i would get caught up in it." said Ronnie with puppy dog eyes and pout so that Sirius believed her but Remus was thinking other wise.

**Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Veronica longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask. **

"**Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid. **

**One wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Veronica didn't know where to run first now that she had a bag full of money. She didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that she was holding more money than she'd had in her whole life — more money than even Dudley had ever had. **

"**Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Veronica, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick, so Veronica entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous. **

"He left you alone to go have a drink." screeched Mrs Weasley

Before Ronnie could retaliate, Remus said "Ronnie i would think before speaking, you need to tone done your attitude and Mrs Weasley is right Hagrid should have not left you alone."

"Who does he think he is. Asshole." breathed Ronnie

**Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve. **

"**Hogwarts, dear?" she said, when Veronica started to speak. "Got the lot here — and got a young man being fitted up just now, in fact."**

"And enter the stuck up ferret." Ronnie announced. Some looked confused, others understood and snorted.

**In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Veronica on a stool next to her slipped a long robe over her head, and began to pin it to the right length. **

"**Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?" **

"**Yes," said Veronica. **

"**My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. **

**He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow." **

**Veronica was strongly reminded of Dudley.**

"Sounds like Malfoy." said Sirius

"**Have **_**you **_**got your own broom?" the boy went on. **

"**No," said Veronica. **

"**Play Quidditch at all?" **

"**No," Veronica said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be.**

"_**I **_**do — Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?" **

"**No," said Veronica, feeling more stupid by the minute. **

"**Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been — imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" **

There is nothing wrong with Hufflepuff." said Tonks her hair changing from bubblegum pink to intense red

"**Mmm," said Veronica, wishing she could say something a bit more interesting. **

"**I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Veronica and pointing at two large ice creams to show he couldn't come in. **

"**That's Hagrid," said Veronica, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts." **

"**Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"**

"**He's the gamekeeper," said Veronica. She was liking the boy less and less every second. **

"**Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of **_**savage **_— **lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."**

"**I think he's brilliant," said Veronica coldly. **

"_**Do **_**you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?" **

"**They're dead," said Veronica shortly. She didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy. **

"**Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all. **

"**But they were **_**our **_**kind, weren't they?" **

"**They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean." **

"**I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?" **

"You should have told him. It would make him eat his own socks." Tonks muttered.

**But before Veronica could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Veronica, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool. **

"**Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy. **

**Veronica was rather quiet as she ate the ice cream Hagrid had bought her (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts). **

"**What's up?" said Hagrid. **

"**Nothing," Veronica lied. **

"You suck at lying Ronnie." said Mione

"No i only suck at lying to some people, like Hagrid, Ron, Charlie and you, otherwise i am rather good at it." said Ronnie

"Hmm now i come to think of it you do." said Mione. While the everyone else was wondering if she had ever lied to them and got away with it.

**They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Veronica cheered up a bit when she found a bottle of ink that changed colour as you wrote. When they had left the shop, she said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?" **

"Imagine James' face, his little girl not know about Quidditch." whispered Sirius to Remus

"**Blimey, Veronica, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know — not knowin' about Quidditch!" **

"**Don't make me feel worse," said Veronica. She told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin's. **

"— **and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in —" **

"**Yer not **_**from **_**a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh **_**were **_— **he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles — look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!" **

"**So what **_**is **_**Quidditch?" **

"**It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like — like soccer in the Muggle world — everyone follows Quidditch — played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls — sorta hard ter explain the rules." **

"No it's not." Ron and the twins cried. Many in the room chuckled at their expression.

"**And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?" **

"**School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but —"**

"Hey!" Exclaimed Tonks.

"**I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Veronica gloomily. **

Tonks glared at the young witch while Ronnie looked at her pouting and said " Sorry Tonks, Hufflepuff is a cool house to be in." and Tonks accepted her apology.

"**Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."**

"**Vol-, sorry —You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?" **

"**Years an' years ago," said Hagrid. **

**They bought Veronica's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to drag Veronica away from **_**Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More) **_**by Professor Vindictus Viridian. **

"**I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley." **

"Knew there was a reason why we liked you." The twins said. Ronnie smiled.

"**I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level." But she ended up buy a lot of books as she like to read.**

The twins and Ron looked like they had never met Ronnie before, while Mione beamed at her.

**Hagrid wouldn't let Veronica buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Veronica, Veronica herself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop). **

**Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Veronica's list again. **

"**Just yer wand left — A yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present." **

**Veronica felt herself go red. **

"**You don't have to —" **

"Yes he does." Sirius said firmly. He was going to make sure that Ronnie got to celebrate her birthday this year.

"**I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at**

— **an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'." **

**Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Veronica now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. She couldn't stop stammering her thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell. **

"**Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now — only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand." **

**A magic wand… this was what Veronica had been really looking forward to. **

"I think it's what everyone looks forward to." Charlie said, while Ronnie pouted at him.

**The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window. **

**A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Veronica felt strangely as though she had entered a very strict library; she swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to her and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of her neck prickled. **

**The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.**

"You could feel that?" Sirius asked stunned. Ronnie nodded.

"It seems Potter that you have very good senses." said Mad Eye while Kingsley looked at her in awe.

"**Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Veronica jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and she got quickly off the spindly chair. **

**An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop. **

"**Hello," said Veronica awkwardly. **

"**Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Veronica Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work." **

"How does he remember that?" Tonks asked. No one answered because no one had the answers.

**Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Veronica. Veronica wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy. **

"**Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favoured it — it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."**

**Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Veronica were almost nose to nose. Veronica could see herself reflected in those misty eyes. **

"**And that's where…" **

**Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Veronica's forehead with a long, white finger. **

"That's creepy." Someone said. Ronnie wasn't paying attention to who. Her mind was going back to that day.

"**I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands… well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…" **

**He shook his head and then, to Veronica's relief, spotted Hagrid. **

"**Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again… Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?" **

"**It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid. **

"**Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern. **

"**Er — yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly. **

"**But you don't **_**use **_**them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply. **

"**Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly.**

"On no of course not." Ron said sarcastically.

**Veronica noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke. **

"You are very observant as well." said Mad Eye, keeping his electric eye on her.

"**Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now — Miss. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?" **

"**Er — well, I'm right-handed," said Veronica. **

"**Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Veronica from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round her head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Miss. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's or witches wand." **

"Why is that?" Tonks asked. Dumbledore was about to answer but Ronnie beat him to it.

"The wand chooses the Witch or Wizard." Tonks nodded and Dumbledore smiled, glad that Ronnie had been listening that day, though he wasn't sure why.

**Veronica suddenly realised that the tape measure, which was measuring between her nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes. **

"**That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Miss. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave." **

**Veronica took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of her hand almost at once. **

"**Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try —" **

**Veronica tried — but she had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander. **

"**No, no — here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."**

"How many wands did you try?" Sirius asked. Ronnie thought for a bit and then answered,

"About 63. I don't know I lost count." Many people raised their eyebrows.

**Veronica tried. And tried. She had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become. **

"**Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere — I wonder, now — yes, why not — unusual combination — holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple." **

**Veronica took the wand. She felt a sudden warmth in her fingers. **

**She raised the wand above her head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. **

**Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well… how curious… how very curious…" **

"What's curious?" Many asked. Ronnie just snuggled into Charlie's embrace as she did not want people to know about her wand.

**He put Veronica's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious… curious…" **

"**Sorry," said Veronica, "but what's curious?" **

**Mr. Ollivander fixed Veronica with his pale stare. **

"**I remember every wand I've ever sold, Miss. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother — why, its brother gave you that scar."**

"You have the brother wand to Voldemort?" Asked Remus surprised. Ronnie nodded.

"Why didn't you tell Ron and me." Mione asked

"Because i didn't know how you would take it, and I'm sorry i never told you." said Ronnie sadly but Ron and Mione could both see her point.

**Veronica swallowed. **

"**Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember… I think we must expect great things from you, Miss. Potter… After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great." **

"Why does it sound like he's admiring him?" Ginny asked.

"I don't think he was admiring the person I think he was admiring the magic." Ronnie answered.

"You would indeed be correct Ronnie." said the aged Headmaster

**Veronica shivered. She wasn't sure she liked Mr. Ollivander too much. She paid seven gold Galleons for her wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop. **

**The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Veronica and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Veronica didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; she didn't even notice how much people were gawking at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the snowy owl asleep in its cage on Veronica's lap. Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Veronica only realised where they were when Hagrid tapped her on the shoulder. **

"**Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said. **

**He bought Veronica a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Veronica kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow. **

"**You all right, Veronica? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid. **

**Veronica wasn't sure she could explain. She'd just had the best birthday of her life — and yet — she chewed her hamburger, trying to find the words.**

"**Everyone thinks I'm special," she said at last. **

"But you are Ronnie." Sirius said quietly.

"**All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander… but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol-, sorry — I mean, the night my parents died."**

"Exactly it was my mother, who made it possible for me to banish Voldemort, but no one gets that do they, everyone thinks it must be so awesome to have all this fame, but i never wanted it, all i want is my parents back." said Ronnie, then she burst into tears, and everyone just looked at her sadly while Charlie gave her a cuddle.

**Hagrid leaned across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile. **

"**Don' you worry, Veronica. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts — I did — still do, 'smatter of fact."**

"That made me feel better." Ronnie smiled. Others nodded.

**Hagrid helped Veronica on to the train that would take her back to the Dursleys, then handed her an envelope. **

"**Yer ticket fer Hogwarts, " he said. "First o' September — King's Cross — it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me…. See yeh soon, Veronica." **

"But he didn't tell you how to get on the train." said Remus looking worried

"Well obviously i got on alright didn't i, and i had some help in that department." said Ronnie while looking over at Ron.

**The train pulled out of the station. Veronica wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; she rose in her seat and pressed her nose against the window, but she blinked and Hagrid had gone.**

"That's the end of the chapter, who want to go next." Sirius said

"I will." said Remus.


	8. Platform Nine And Three Quarters

**The Journey From Platform Nine and Three-Quarters**

**Veronica's last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun.**

"Is it ever?" Ron snorted.

**True, Dudley was now so scared of Veronica, he wouldn't stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Veronica in her cupboard, force her to do anything, or shout at her — in fact, they didn't speak to her at all.**

"That sounds depressing." said Mione

"It was after a while." Ronnie shrugged.

**Half terrified, half furious, they acted as though any chair with Veronica in it was empty. Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while.**

**Veronica kept to her room, with her new owl for company. **

"I love my owl, she is perfect." said Ronnie dreamily

**She had decided to call her Hedwig, a name she had found in **_**A History of Magic. **_**Her school books were very interesting. **

"NO~!" The twins yelled, hugging each other tightly.

"What is the matter with reading books, i happen to enjoy them, and they come in handy when you want to learn." said Ronnie glaring at the twins.

**She lay on her bed reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn't come in to vacuum anymore, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice.**

**Every night before she went to sleep, Veronica ticked off another day on the piece of paper she had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first. **

"I did the same." Ginny laughed. "I had watched all of my brothers go and I was so excited..." her smile dropped.

Ronnie smiled gently at the younger girl. "But it's amazing, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Ginny said wistfully.

**On the last day of August she thought she'd better speak to her aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station the next day, so she went down to the living room where they were watching a quiz show on television. She cleared her throat to let them know she was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room.**

Snickers broke out across the room.

**'Er — Uncle Vernon?' **

**Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening. **

**'Er — I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to — to go to Hogwarts.' **

**Uncle Vernon grunted again. **

**'Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?' **

**Grunt. Veronica supposed that meant yes.**

**'Thank you.'**

"Wasn't aware you were fluent in troll as well as snake." Ron snorted again.

"It comes in handy, never know when you need troll language." Said Ronnie lightly.

Mione and Ron snorted.

**She was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke. 'Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?'**

"Actually-"

"They're illegal, we know." Ronnie smirked at the now pouting Muggleborn.

**Veronica knew they were illegal but did not mention anything. **

**'Where is this school, anyway?'**

**'It's in scotland, i have to take the train from King's Cross Station at 11am from Platform Nine and Three Quarters. **

**Her aunt and uncle stared.**

**'Platform what?' **

**'Nine and three-quarters.' **

**'Don't talk rubbish,' said Uncle Vernon. 'There is no platform nine and three-quarters.'**

"Petunia should know where it is, seeing as she has been on it to see Lily off." said Remus

"What makes you think she was going to help me." said Ronnie

**'It's on my ticket.' **

**'Barking,' said Uncle Vernon, 'howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother.' **

**'Why are you going to London?' Veronica asked, trying to keep things friendly.**

"Well, at least you try, dear." Molly said.

"Not like they deserve it, but least he decided to take me, do not know how i would have got their if not." said Ronnie sadly.

**'Taking Dudley to the hospital,' growled Uncle Vernon. 'Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings.'**

A few people snickered at the reminder of Dudley with a tail.

**Veronica woke at five o'clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. She got up and pulled on her jeans which actually fit her and an old baggy top that was Dudleys** **because she didn't want to walk into the station in her wizard's robes — she'd change on the train. She checked her Hogwarts list yet again to make sure she had everything she needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage, and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. **

**Two hours later, Veronica's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, **

"Let me guess," Charlie said bitterly, "they made you put it into the car yourself?"

"What do you think Char." said Ronnie

**Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Veronica, and they had set off. They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Veronica's trunk onto a cart and wheeled it into the station for him. Veronica thought this was strangely kind until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.**

"That can't be good." said Sirius

"Nah you don't say." Ronnie said sarcastically

**'Well, there you are, girl. Platform nine — platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?' **

**He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all. **

**'Have a good term,' said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Veronica turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing.**

"That was rather rude." said Remus

"That is what i have been trying to tell you all along, they are rude and horrible but no you don't listen, all i get is scolded on my attitude." said Ronnie miserably.

**Veronica's mouth went rather dry. What on earth was she going to do? She was starting to attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig. She'd have to ask someone. She stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and three-quarters. The guard had never heard of Hogwarts and when Veronica couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started to get annoyed, as though she was being stupid on purpose. Getting desperate, Veronica asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but the guard said there wasn't one. In the end the guard strode away, muttering about time wasters. Veronica was now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, she had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and she had no idea how to do it; she was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk she could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money, and a large owl. **

**Hagrid must have forgotten to tell her something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. She wondered if she should get out her wand and start tapping the ticket inspector's stand between platforms nine and ten.**

"That wouldn't help much, and it would make you look a bit stupid." said Ron tactlessly.

"Did you forget how i got on the train Ron." said Ronnie and then Ron just smiled.

**At that moment a group of people passed just behind her and she caught a few words of what they were saying. **

**'— packed with Muggles, of course —' **

**Veronica swung round. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. **

"MUM!" The Weasley children yelled, making Veronica laugh.

Sirius and Remus sighed in relief, thank God for the Weasley's and their tendency to be just a bit late.

**Each of them was pushing a trunk like Veronica's in front of him — and they had an **_**owl**_**. Heart hammering, Veronica pushed her cart after them. They stopped and so did she, just near enough to hear what they were saying.**

"Eavesdropping, Potter." sneered Snape

"What it's a speciality of mine." said Ronnie just shrugging her shoulders

**'Now, what's the platform number?' said the boys' mother.**

**'Nine and three-quarters!' piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, 'Mum, can't I go…'**

Ginny blushed and ducked her head into her arms as her brothers chuckled at her.

**'You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first.' **

**What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten. Veronica watched, careful not to blink in case she missed it — but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of her and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.**

"Rotten luck, kiddo." Sirius chuckled.

**'Fred, you next,' the plump woman said. **

**'I'm not Fred, I'm George,' said the boy. 'Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you **_**tell **_**I'm George?'**

**'Sorry, George, dear.' **

**'Only joking, I am Fred,' said the boy, and off he went.**

"Oh, I hate that one." Molly scowled as the twins and Sirius laughed.

**His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone — but how had he done it? Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier he was almost there — and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere. **

**There was nothing else for it. **

**'Excuse me,' Veronica said to the plump woman. **

**'Hello, dear,' she said. 'First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too.' She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.**

"Thanks for that Ronnie." said Ron sarcastically

"It's not my fault my thoughts are on display for everyone to read, it's not like i asked them to be." snapped Ronnie glaring at her friend.

**'Yes,' said Veronica. 'The thing is — the thing is, I don't know how to —' **

**'How to get onto the platform?' she said kindly, and Veronica nodded. 'Not to worry,' she said. 'All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron.' **

**'Er — okay,' said Veronica. She pushed her trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid.**

"That's the point." Moody said dryly.

Veronica stuck her tongue out at him and he just chuckled.

**She started to walk toward it. People jostled her on their way to platforms nine and ten. Veronica walked more quickly. She was going to smash right into that barrier and then she'd be in trouble — leaning forward on her cart, she broke into a heavy run — the barrier was coming nearer and nearer — she wouldn't be able to stop — the cart was out of control — she was a foot away — she closed her eyes ready for the crash —**

**It didn't come… **

"Not this year." Ron and Ronnie sang, grinning at one another.

"Excuse me?" Minerva asked with a frown.

"Second year." The two exchanged amused glances.

Sirius exchanged a nervous look with his husband wondering what that was all about.

**she kept on running… she opened her eyes. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said **_**Hogwarts' Express, eleven o'clock**_**. Veronica looked behind her and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, with the words **_**Platform Nine and Three-Quarters **_**on it, she had done it.**

**Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every colour wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks. The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Veronica pushed her cart off down the platform in search of an empty seat. She passed a round-faced boy who was saying, 'Gran, I've lost my toad again.'**

"Neville!" Ronnie cheered making some laugh.

**'Oh, **_**Neville**_**,' he heard the old woman sigh.**

**A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.**

"Lee!" The twins crowed, giving each other a high-five.

**'Give us a look, Lee, go on.' **

**The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.**

Ron shuddered.

"Does anyone know what happened to the spider." asked George.

"Erm Hedwig ate it." said Ronnie while the twins laughed.

**Veronica pressed on through the crowd until she found an empty compartment near the end of the train. She put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove and heave his trunk toward the train door. She tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice she dropped it painfully on her foot.**

Tonks winced. "I did that too, until Charlie over here helped me out." The metamorph winked at the red-head making him laugh. While Ronnie could not help but feel jealous so she snuggled into Charlie.

**'Want a hand?' It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the barrier.**

**'Yes, please,' Veronica panted. **

**'Oi Fred! C'mere and help!' With the twins' help, Veronica's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment. **

**'Thanks,' said Veronica, pushing her sweaty hair out of her eyes. **

**'What's that?' said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Veronica's lightning scar.**

**'Blimey,' said the other twin. 'Are you —?' **

**'She is,' said the first twin. 'Aren't you?' he added to Veronica.**

"I'm pretty sure this is the only time you've ever called us 'twin one' and 'twin two'." Fred frowned.

"After this i realised the magic around you is slightly different, so it was easy for me to tell you apart." said Ronnie. Everyone was staring at her and she didn't like it, so she snapped at them "What are you all looking at." Remus cuffed the back of her head "Manners Veronica." said Remus

"Sorry my dear girl, it is just that not many people can see the magic surrounding people and you had the ability at 11 is really remarkable." said Dumbledore smiling at Ronnie.

**'What?' said Veronica. **

_**'Veronica Potter.'**_** chorused the twins. **

**Veronica grimaced and said "Yes i am but i prefer Ronnie rather than Veronica".**

**The two boys gawked at her, and Ronnie felt herself turning red. Then, to her relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door. **

**'Fred? George? Are you there?' **

**'Coming, Mum.' With a last look at Ronnie, the twins hopped off the train. **

**Veronica sat down next to the window where, half hidden, she could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. To her, they were fascinating. Ronnie had never actually seen how a real family interacted (because the Dursley's definitely couldn't be a good role model for such).**

"You are _such_ a snoop." Hermione rolled her eyes.

Veronica shrugged with a small smile. "I know but its part of my charm pookie."

Hermione rolled her eyes again as the twins and Ronnie snickered.

**Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief. 'Ron, you've got something on your nose.' The youngest boy tried to jerk out-of-the-way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.**

Hermione gave the only boy of their trio an incredulous look. "How many times did someone tell you that you had something on your nose?"

Ron blushed and muttered something but didn't answer.

**'**_**Mum**_**— geroff.' He wriggled free.**

**'Aah, has ickle Ronnikins got somefink on his nosie?' said one of the twins. **

**'Shut up,' said Ron. **

**'Where's Percy?' said their mother. **

**'He's coming now.' **

**The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, and Veronica noticed a red and gold badge on his chest with the letter **_**P **_**on it. **

**'Can't stay long, Mother,' he said. 'I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves —' **

**'Oh, are you a **_**prefect**_**, Percy?' said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. 'You should have said something, we had no idea.' **

**'Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it,' said the other twin. 'Once —' **

**'Or twice —' **

**'A minute —' **

**'All summer —'**

Sirius burst into laughter. "Brilliant!" He crowed.

The twins winked at one another.

**'Oh, shut up,' said Percy the Prefect.**

"PERCY THE PREFECT!" Fred and George roared with laughter. "Ronnie, you're brilliant."

Veronica grinned mischievously. "I know."

"Hey, Ronnie," George started, his eyes twinkling.

"Want to come pranking with us?" Fred finished, the same twinkle in his eye.

Veronica pretended to think it over before shrugging. "I thought I already pranked with you guys" She chirped, giggling fiercely.

"You were part of some of their pranks that has been going on for the past 4 years or so." said McGonnagall faintly

"Couldn't you tell, because of me the pranks got better." said Ronnie with a pompous tone, while the twins rolled about laughing.

**How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?' said one of the twins. **

**'Because he's a **_**prefect**_**,' said their mother fondly. 'All right, dear, well, have a good term — send me an owl when you get there.' **

**She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.**

**'Now, you two — this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've — you've blown up a toilet or —'**

Sirius and Remus shook their heads. "Never give a prankster an idea, Molly." Remus said mournfully.

"It always ends in madness." Sirius nodded in agreement.

**'Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet.' **

**'Great idea though, thanks, Mum.'**

**"'It's **_**not funny**_**. And look after Ron.' **

**"'Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us.'" **

**'Shut up,' said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.**

**'Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?' **

**Veronica leaned back quickly so they couldn't see her looking. **

Mad Eye nodded his head in approval.

**'You know that black-haired girl who was near us in the station? Know who she is?'**

**'Who?' **

_**'Veronica Potter!'**_** said the twins "But she prefers to go by the name Ronnie." they said**

**Ronnie heard the little girl's voice. **

**'Oh, Mum, can I go on the train and see her, Mum, oh please…'**

Ginny groaned again and sunk deeper into her seat, her parents, Ronnie, and Hermione laughing along with her brothers now.

**'You've already seen her, Ginny, and the poor child isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is she really, Fred? How do you know?' **

**'Asked her. Saw her scar. It's really there — like lightning.'**

**'Poor **_**dear **_**— no wonder she was alone, I wondered. She was ever so polite when she asked how to get onto the platform.' **

**'Never mind that, do you think she remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?'**

**Their mother suddenly became very stern. 'I forbid you to ask her, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though she needs reminding of that on her first day at school.'**

"Thank you, Molly." Remus said softly.

Molly smiled at Remus before smiling at Ronnie. "No trouble."

**'All right, keep your hair on.' **

**A whistle sounded. 'Hurry up!' their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their younger sister began to cry.**

**'Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls.' **

**'We'll send you a Hogwarts' toilet seat.'**

Ginny pouted. "I never got that, you know?"

Fred, George, and Ronnie burst into laughter. "It went to a noble cause, Gin." Ronnie choked out.

"Very noble." Fred roared.

The adults exchanged frowns.

**'**_**George!**_**'**

**'Only joking, Mom.'**

**The train began to move. Ronnie saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved.**

**Veronica watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Ronnie felt a great leap of excitement. She didn't know what she was going to — but it had to be better than what she was leaving behind.**

"I think we all agree with _that_ sentiment." Mione nodded firmly.

**The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in. 'Anyone sitting there?' he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Ronnie. 'Everywhere else is full.'**

Veronica bounded out of her seat and gave Ron a tight hug. "Hi Ron." she sang.

Ron hugged her back and swung her around while she squealed in happiness.

Everyone was laughing and happy she was acting like a normal teenager.

**Veronica shook her head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Ronnie and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Veronica saw he still had a black mark on his nose. **

**'Hey, Ron.' **

**The twins were back. 'Listen, we're going down the middle of the train — Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there.' **

**'Right,' mumbled Ron.**

Fifteen-year old Ron shuddered again.

**'Ronnie,' said the other twin, 'did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then.' **

**'Bye,' said Veronica and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them. **

**'Are you really Veronica Potter?' Ron blurted out.**

**Veronica nodded. "Yeah," she told him softly "you can call me Ronnie, though."**

**'Oh — well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes,' said Ron. 'And have you really got — you know…' He pointed at Veronica's forehead. **

**Veronica pulled back her fringe to show the lightning scar. Ron stared. 'So that's where You-Know-Who —?'**

**'Yes,' said Ronnie, 'but I can't remember it.' **

**'Nothing?' said Ron eagerly.**

"_Ronald!" _Molly scolded.

"What?" Ron cried.

"You did, technically, only tell Fred and George not to ask." Ronnie pointed out.

Ron nodded furiously. "What Ronnie said!"

"It still doesn't excuse you for asking and you know i meant all of you." said Mrs Weasley while Mione and Ronnie rolled their eyes.

**'Well — I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else.' **

**'Wow,' said Ron. He sat and stared at Ronnie for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realised what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again. **

**'Are all your family wizards?' asked Ronnie, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found her.**

"Really?" Ron asked.

"Very." She nodded firmly.

**'Er — Yes, I think so,' said Ron. 'I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him.'**

**'So you must know loads of magic already.' The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.**

The Weasley's snorted. "Not bloody likely." Ginny grumbled.

"Ginevra! Language!" Molly scolded.

**'I heard you went to live with Muggles,' said Ron. 'What are they like?' **

**'Horrible — well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers.' **

**'Five,' said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy.**

**'I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left — Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. **

The Weasley's froze, staring at the youngest Weasley boy.

"Stop looking at me like that, yes it was how I felt at the time, but now I got over it." said Ron

"We will be having a family meeting anyway." said Mrs Weasley.

**You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat.'**

"Stupid traitor, I hope you burn in hell's pits of fire." muttered Ronnie as Sirius, Remus Ron and Mione glared at the book to the others confusion.

**Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat grey rat, which was asleep. 'His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff — I mean, I got Scabbers instead.**

**Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window. Ronnie didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, she'd never had any money in her life until a month ago, and she told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.**

**'… and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a witch or about my parents or Voldemort—'**

**Ron gasped. **

**'What?' said Ronnie. **

**'**_**You said You-Know-Who's name!**_**' said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. 'I'd have thought you, of all people —' **

**'I'm not trying to be **_**brave **_**or anything, saying the name,' said Ronnie, 'I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn… I bet,' she added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying her a lot lately, 'I bet I'm the worst in the class.'**

"You thought you would be worst in class, blimey your are top in basically everything and I don't know how you do it. You never really seem to pay attention in class." said Mione

"I guess you will find out later how i manage to come basically top in everything and I do pay attention, just not all the time and especially in certain classes." said Ronnie

**'You won't be. There are loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough.' While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past. **

**Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, 'Anything off the cart, dears?' **

**Veronica, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to her feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Ronnie went out into the corridor. She had never had any money for candy with the Dursleys, and now that she had pockets rattling with gold and silver she was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as she could carry — but the woman didn't have Mars Bars. **

"What _are_ Mars Bars?" Bill asked interestedly.

"Muggle chocolate bar." Said Remus with a glazed look in his eyes.

**What she did have were Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Ronnie had never seen in her life. Not wanting to miss anything, she got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts. **

**Ron stared as Veronica brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat. 'Hungry, are you?'**

**'Starving,' said Veronica, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty. **

**Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, 'She always forgets I don't like corned beef…'**

Molly frowned. "Then who does?"

"...That'd be me, Mum." Bill said calmly, eyeing his brother and noting the scowl still etched on his face.

"Oh." Molly frowned, stubbornly trying to fix that detail in her mind.

**'Swap you for one of these,' said Veronica, holding up a pasty. 'Go on —'" **

**'You don't want this, it's all dry,' said Ron. 'She hasn't got much time,' he added quickly, 'you know, with five of us.'**

**'Go on, have a pasty,' said Ronnie, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with. It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Ronnie's pasties, cakes, and candies (the sandwiches lay forgotten).**

"Candy is not a good lunch." Molly sniffed.

"So, it's not like i had anything else to eat so candy is all i could have." said Ronnie.

**'What are these?' Veronica asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. 'They're not **_**real **_**frogs, are they?' She was starting to feel that nothing would surprise her. **

**'No,' said Ron. 'But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa.'**

"I still don't have her, either." Ron grumbled.

Remus smirked. "I do."

"Yeah, because you're a bloody chocoholic." Sirius snorted.

**'What?' **

**'Oh, of course, you wouldn't know — Chocolate Frogs have cards, inside them, you know, to collect — famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy.'**

**Veronica unwrapped her Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and moustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.**

**'So **_**this **_**is Dumbledore!' exclaimed Ronnie.**

**'Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!' said Ron. 'Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa — thanks —'**

**Ronnie turned over her card and read: **

_**ALBUS DUMBLEDORE **_

_**CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS **_

_**Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.**_

"Could have saved us _so_ much time." Hermione moaned.

"All that wasted time in the library!" Ron groaned in agreement.

"What-?"

"Don't ask, Siri. It'll be explained." Ronnie said wearily.

**Ronnie turned the card back over and saw, to her astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared. 'He's gone!'**

**'Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day,' said Ron. 'He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her… do you want it? You can start collecting.'**

**Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped. 'Help yourself,' said Veronica. 'But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos.'**

**'Do they? What, they don't move at all?' Ron sounded amazed. '**_**Weird!'**_

Ginny giggled. "You sound like Dad!"

Ron blushed and stuck his tongue out at her. Arthur just beamed proudly.

**Ronnie stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on her card and gave her a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Veronica couldn't keep her eyes off them. Soon she had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, and Merlin. She finally tore her eyes away from the Druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. **

**'You want to be careful with those,' Ron warned Ronnie. 'When they say every flavour, they **_**mean **_**every flavour — you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a bogie-flavoured one once.'**

George shuddered. "Most disgusting thing of _life_."

"I am really lucky with them, i have never had an overly disgusting taste." said Ronnie

**Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner. 'Bleaaargh — see? Sprouts.' **

**They had a good time eating the Every Flavour Beans. Veronica got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny grey one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper. **

"Not bad." Sirius nodded. "Normally it's much worse."

"Potter luck." Ronnie said wryly. "It's either really good or truly horrible."

"I'll say." Ron grumbled.

**The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills. There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Ronnie had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful. **

**'Sorry,' he said, 'but have you seen a toad at all?' **

**When they shook their heads, he wailed, 'I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!' **

**'He'll turn up,' said Veronica.**

**'Yes,' said the boy miserably. 'Well, if you see him…' He left. **

**'Don't know why he's so bothered,' said Ron. 'If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk.'**

Ronnie tossed her head angrily, Sirius tightened his grip on the couch and Remus glared at the floor.

**The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap. **

**'He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference,' said Ron in disgust. 'I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look…'**

**He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end. **

**'Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway —'**

**He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. **

"Hermione~!" Ronnie sang.

"I knew you loved me Pookie, but not this much." said Mione with her hand on her heart much to Ronnie's amusement.

**She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes. **

**'Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one,' she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.**

Hermione blushed, burying her face in her hands. "Veronica!"

"Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean for my thoughts to be published" Ronnie said quickly.

**'We've already told him we haven't seen it,' said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand. **

**'Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then.' She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.**

Hermione winced. "Oh, was I really like that?"

Ron and Ronnie exchanged glances before looking back at her. "Yes." They chorused.

**'Er — all right.' **

**He cleared his throat. 'Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow.'**

The twins burst into laughter. "Can't-"

"believe-"

"you-"

"fell-"

"for-"

"that!" They roared with laughter, shaking furiously for a good few minutes.

Ron blushed a hot red and sank low into his seat.

"Fred, George, that wasn't nice, it was no wonder he was feeling so bad about himself, you need to learn that not all people like to be pranked and you shouldn't do it to family, it is most probably one of the reasons Percy is like what he is." said Ronnie sadly. As the Weasley family stared at her thinking their may be some truth in that.

**He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed grey and fast asleep.**

**'Are you sure that's a real spell?' said the girl. 'Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?'**

**She said all this very fast.**

"Damn Mione, you sure said that fast." said Remus

**Ronnie looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the course books by heart either. Sure she looked through them and knew a fair bit, but she hadn't **_**memorised**_** them.**

Quite a few others looked stunned at this as well.

**'I'm Ron Weasley,' Ron muttered. **

**'Ronnie Potter," said Veronica. **

**'Are you really?' said Hermione. 'Is Ronnie your nickname? You've only ever been mentioned as Veronica Potter... I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in **_**Modern Magical History **_**and **_**The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts **_**and **_**Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century**_**.' **

**"Don't see how much of it is true seeing as i only just recently found out about being a witch and all the stuff to do with my parents." said Ronnie angrily.**

"Ronnie, sweetie there was no need to be angry at Mione, i see your point but others were not to know. You need to control your temper." said Sirius.

**'Goodness, you didn't know? I'd have found out everything I could if it was me,' said Hermione. 'Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad… Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon.' And she left, taking the toadless boy with her. **

**'Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it,' said Ron. **

"Ronald!" Molly said angrily.

"What i was an 11 year old boy, and at the time i found Mione annoying, there is no point trying to lecture me on something i already am ashamed of and plus i already apologised and we became friends." said Ron glaring at his mother and not backing down.

**He threw his wand back into his trunk. 'Stupid spell — George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud.' **

**'What house are your brothers in' asked Veronica. **

**'Gryffindor,' said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. 'Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw **_**would **_**be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin.'**

**'That's the house Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?' **

**'Yeah,' said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed. **

**'You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter,' said Ronnie, trying to take Ron's mind off houses.**

**'So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?' Ronnie was wondering what a wizard did once they'd finished school.**

**'Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts,' said Ron. 'Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the **_**Daily Prophet**_**, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles — someone tried to rob a high security vault.' **

**Veronica stared. 'Really? What happened to them?' **

**'Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it.'**

**Veronica turned this news over in her mind. She was starting to get a prickle of fear every time You-Know-Who was mentioned. She supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying 'Voldemort' without worrying.**

"And that is why I'll say Voldemort." Ronnie said firmly, nodding.

**'What's your Quidditch team?' Ron asked. **

**'Er — I don't know any.' Ronnie confessed, playing with her hair.**

**'What!' Ron looked dumbfounded. 'Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world —' And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Ronnie through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time. **

**Three boys entered, and Ronnie recognised the middle one at once: it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop.**

"And so begins a tradition." Ron sighed.

"Every single year, Malfoy and his lackeys come find us on the train." Ronnie explained with a sigh.

**He was looking at Veronica with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley. 'Is it true?' he said. 'They're saying all down the train that Veronica Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?' **

**'Yes,' said Ronnie defiantly, off-set by the boy's tone. She was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.**

"Which is what they are." Sirius said darkly. "Lucius was the same as a boy."

Arthur nodded in agreement.

**'Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle,' said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Veronica was looking. 'And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.**

**Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him. 'Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford.'**

The Weasley children scowled at the book, Arthur sighed and Molly gripped his hand tightly.

**He turned back to Ronnie. 'You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there.' **

**He held out his hand to shake Veronica's, but Veronica didn't take it. 'I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks,' she said coolly.**

"Thatta girl." Sirius said proudly, but all Ronnie did was ignore him, thinking about her attitude and how she was acting towards them.

**Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks. 'I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents.**

All around the room, reactions were violent. From Sirius to Snape, everyone had some form of anger towards that sentence.

"He actually said that to your face." said Remus

"No the book thought it would be funny to add it in on purpose." said Ronnie without thinking. Remus decided to ignore her for now.

**They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you.'**

**Veronica stood up and her hair turned bright red in anger and her eyes flashed hazel. "Say anything like that again and i will punch you and i do not care how much trouble i get into, it is not nice to say stuff about one not having a family, get out now before i am not responsible for my actions." snarled Ronnie**

**Malfoy looked like he was going to say something but then he saw the lights flickering and thought better of it but his two idiots decided to reach for the food they had left.**

"That was scary and the anger wasn't directed at me." said Ron.

**Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron — Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell. Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle.**

"Only useful thing the little bugger had done in his life." Ron grumbled under his breath.

**Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in. **

**'What **_**has **_**been going on?' she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.**

**'I think he's been knocked out,' Ron said to Veronica. He looked closer at Scabbers. 'No — I don't believe it — he's gone back to sleep.' And so he had.**

"What's the difference?" Ginny asked in confusion, noting the angry expressions on Remus, Sirius, Veronica, Ron, and Hermione's faces.

**'You've met Malfoy before?' said Ron. Veronica explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley. **

**'I've heard of his family,' said Ron darkly. 'They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side.' He turned to Hermione. 'Can we help you with something?'**

**'You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!'**

"Again, second year." Veronica and Ron snorted. Snape and McGonagall scowled.

**'Scabbers has been fighting, not us,' said Ron, scowling at her. 'Would you mind leaving while we change?' **

"You do realise that Ronnie is a girl right." said Tonks, while Ron just blushed.

**'All right — I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors,' said Hermione in a sniffy voice. 'And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?'**

**Ron glared at her as she left. Ronnie peered out of the window. It was getting dark. She could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down. She left the room for the bathroom and came back into the compartment fully changed, Ron had as well. Ronnie could see that his robes were a bit short for him as she could see his sneakers underneath.**

Ron blushed slightly.

**A voice echoed through the train: 'We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately.' **

**Veronica's stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, she saw, looked pale under his freckles. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.**

"To eat it during the sorting, while waiting for the feast. " said Ronnie while Mrs Weasley looked disapproving.

**The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Ronnie shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Veronica heard a familiar voice: 'Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Veronica?' **

**Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads. 'C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!' **

**Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Veronica thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice. **

**'Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec,' Hagrid called over his shoulder, 'jus' round this bend here.' **

**There was a loud 'Oooooh!' **

**The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.**

"You have a wonderful imagination dear girl." said Dumbledore.

**'No more'n four to a boat!' Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Ronnie and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione. **

**'Everyone in?' shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. 'Right then — FORWARD!' **

**And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. **

**'Heads down!' yelled Hagrid **

"Yeah heads down Sirius, what part did you not get." said Remus shaking his head fondly at his husband.

"What happened?" asked The twins.

"He forgot to put his head down and ended up falling into the lake managing to take me and James with him." explained Remus as Sirius was blushing.

**as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles. **

**'Oy, you there! Is this your toad'" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.**

**'Trevor!' cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. **

**They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door. 'Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?' **

**Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.**

"That is the end of the chapter." said Remus

"Time for dinner then bed everyone, we can continue in the morning." said Dumbledore.


	9. Dinner & Bed

**Dinner**

Mrs Weasley got up to prepare dinner after saying she didn't need any help as she wanted to sort through her thoughts. While Mrs Weasley was in the kitchen, everyone in the sitting room were talking about what they had learned so far from the books.

Veronica was still in Charlie's lap wrapped in his embrace while talking with Ron, Mione, Ginny, Fred, George and Bill. They were discussing prank ideas, which was turing into an intresting conversation. Fred and George wanted to prank Snape while reading the books so they were coming up with some ideas. The ideas ranged from changing his hair colour to transfiguating him into an animal.

Professors Snape, McGonnagall and Dumbledore along with Alastor Moody were currently discussing Veronica's recent attitiude.

"This is what i have been trying to tell you all from the beginning she has a horrible attitude and she doesn't even care what she says." sneered Snape

"Nonsense my dear boy, she is lashing out at Sirius and Remus because she has never really had anyone that cares for her, i am sure she knows it it not their fault but she wants to get the emotions off her chest." said Dumbledore calmy

"I just hope she sorts it all out before she takes it too far, you can see how much it is hurting Sirius and Remus to hear those things from her, and i know she doesn't mean what she is saying but she needs to sort her emotions out. I never realised she had that kind of temper." said McGonnall sadly.

"The girl is good at observing things, and let me just remind you that if you keep things from her she will find out about them herself and it will lead to bigger things and also i do not think you want to get on the wrong side of her temper." said Alastor with a creepy smile.

Kingsley, Tonks and Mr Weasley were also discussing Veronica's behaviour.

"I have never hear her go off on one like that in all the years i have known her, i must admit it is not fair of her to take it out on Sirius and Remus but i wonder how long she has kept these feelings inside, it is no wonder that she exploded." said Mr Weasley

"I can't believe Sirius and Remus are letting her get away with that type of behaviour and especially towards them."said Tonks

"I do not think they will let her get away with speaking to them like that but they need to wait for her to calm down and want to speak to them, if they constantly nag her she is going keep pushing them away." said Kingsley.

Sirius and Remus were sitting on the couch not currently talking but thinking about how much attitude Veronica had and what they could do about it.

"Babe i think we need to get someone to come and talk to Veronica, it is clear she is feeling so much at the moment and it is clear the more we talk and try to get her to calm down, it backfires." said Sirius

"Yeah that was what i was thinking, i wonder how long she has kept all this emotional baggage in for. It is not good for her, i dn't think she believes it is entirely our fault but she has never had anyone else who really cares for her and i think she needed an emotional outlet." said Remus

"I was thinking about bringing in Andromeda and Ted, as i think that Andy would be able to help her, what do you think. said Siruis

"I think that is an excellent idea, but how are we going to bring them here." said Remus questionly.

"I was going to ask Tonks to get them to come, i think it would be a great idea for Ronnie to get to know them as they are family." said Sirius.

Mrs Weasley called everyone for dinner.

Everyone was sitting around the table eating dinner quietly thinking about what they had discovered in the first few chapters of the book.

Ronnie was sitting between Charlie and Mione not really paying attention to anythink or really eating, she was feeling guitly about how she was acting towards Sirius and Remus, she didn't even no why she was acting that way towards them or how she could talk to them to sort everything out. She was just hoping it was not to late to sort thinks out.

Everyone noticed that Ronnie was not really aware what was going on and they were all worried about her as she was also not really eating her dinner.

Charlie leant down to Ronnie and whispered in her ear "Babe are you ok as your not eating." Ronnie turned to Charlie and whispered back " No i have messed everything up and i don't know how to fix it, i wouldn't be surprised to find out that Sirius and Remus wouldn't want anything to do with me anymore." Everyone could see that Ronnie had tears in her eyes and wondered what she was upset about.

Ronnie then stood up and said "I am not really hungry, please excuse me i am going to bed." while running out of the room and up the stairs. Charlie got up to follow her but Hermione stopped him and said "Let me go and talk to her, i know how to deal with her when she is like this." and followed off after Ronnie.

Everyone finished dinner and the kids with Bill and Charlie headed off to bed, while the adults were still downstairs.

Sirius and Remus called Tonks over to talk.

"Tonks, Remus and myself were both wondering if you could bring your mum and dad tomorrow so that your mum could have a talk with Ronnie, i think it could really help." said Sirius

"Yeah i will bring them with me tomorrow, and also i think it is a good idea for Ronnie to talk to my mum, i am sure it will sort out a few of the problems with her attitude and behaviour. I wonder what was up with her at dinner, she didn't seem herself i hope she is ok." said Tonks sadly

"I am sure she will be fine, i think everything is just getting to her while reading these books and she is bound to be emotional." said Remus as he smiled sadly.

**Upstairs**

Ronnie was laying in bed crying, she didn't know why they had to read the stupid books, why does her life have to be displayed for everyone to read doesn't it matter that she is getting no privacy.

Hermione came into her and Ronnie's bedroom as found Ronnie crying which you do not see very often, she walked over and laid on the bed next to her bestfriend wrapping her arms around her.

"Hey Pookie, everythings going to be alright, we are going to win this war." said Mione

"Yeah but at what cost, i can't lose anyone else Doll, its bad enough i lost my parents, i don't know how much more i can take. Also i am being a right bitch to Sirius and Remus, and what did they do to deserve it. Nothing, but i don't know how to fix it. Everthing is a mess Mione." said Ronnie sadly.

They both lay on the bed just thinking about everything well suddenly the bedroom door opened and in came Charlie.

"Hey babe you doing ok, did you want me to stay with you tonight." said Charlie

"No Char Bear, i'm not ok, i just don't know what to do anymore, everything is a mess and i have no control on my emotions lately. And if it is ok with you do you mind if i just spend the night with Mione." said Ronnie

"That's fine Spit Fire, come here and give me a hug and kiss then i will see you in the morning." Charlie said smiling lighlty

After Ronnie gave him a hug and a kiss he left the girls bedroom and went into his own which he was sharing with Bill.

"Is Ronnie ok Charlie?" asked Bill

"I don't know she is feeling alot right now and it is really getting to her and i don't know what to do to help her, i hate seeing her like this." Charlie said sadly.

**The Next Morning**

Veronica and Hermione woke up snuggled up together, even though Ronnie wasn't feeling completely better she was grateful Mione stayed with her.

They both got dressed, Mione in in some red jeans with a gold and red top with black converse and Ronnie wearing green skinny jeans with a black tank top with red converse. Ronnie also changed her hair colour to illoumious blue which is her favourite colour.

When the came downstairs and made their way into the kitchen they noticed two new people. Ronnie skipped her way over to Charlie to get her good morning kiss and asked him quietly "Who are the two new people."

"They would be Tonks' mum and dad." said Charlie also quietly

Tonks called ronnie over to meet her parents

"Mum dad, this is Veronica Potter but she prefers to be called Ronnie, Ronnie this is my mum Androemda and dad Ted." said Tonks

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." said Ronnie

"It's good to see you again, we used to look after you when you was a baby." said Andromeda

Ronnie just blushed and made her way back to Charlie sitting on his lap much to the chargrin of Sirius and Remus.

Once everyone had finished breakfast the all moved into the living room to read some more of the book.

"Who wants to read this morning?" asked Dumbledore

"I will" said Ginny


	10. The Sorting Hat

**The Sorting Hat **

**The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Veronica's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.**

'You never understood that did you Sirius?' she said frowning at him.

'Oh we did,' Sirius assured her 'It just made it more fun,' he said grinning his biggest grin. McGonagall sighed.

"**The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.**

"**Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."**

**She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Dursleys' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.**

**They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Veronica could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right — the rest of the school must already be here — but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.**

'Aw,' cooed the adults and twins, those who had been at that sorting blushed.

"**Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts.**

**You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.**

'Or in the hospital wing,' sighed Hermione looking at Ronnie who was looking at her best friend with an innocent slightly confused expression.

'Sorry what?' she said innocently.

'You know little miss I can't let anyone down even if it kills me.' Hermione scowled, Ronnie huffed.

'That's true,' said Fred

'Catch the snitch or die trying,' said George.

Ronnie just glared at the twins and they shut up.

"**The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points.**

'Another thing you never got Black,' Snape sneered.

Sirius just ingorned Snape.

**At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.**

"**The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."**

**Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose.**

"Why do you have to be so oberservant Ronnie" grumbled Ron

"It's a part of my charm" said Ronnie

**Veronica nervously took a bobble from her wrist and tied her hair up in a ponytail.**

"Still doesn't help much though does it Ronnie." teased Mione

"It's not my fault my hair bobble decided to get a mind of its own and go flying across the room and hit Parvarti in the face." huffed Ronnie

"It was totally awesome though, everyone laughed, you should have seen her face, she thought you did it on purpose." said Ron

Everyone laughed at the story.

"**I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."**

**She left the chamber. Veronica swallowed.**

"**How exactly do they sort us into houses?" she asked Ron.**

"**Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."**

Mrs Weasley looked at Fred sternly who looked back innocently.

**Veronica's heart gave a horrible jolt. A test? In front of the whole school? It was a good thing that she had an eidetic memory. But surley they wouldn't test them in front of everyone.**

Everyone just stared at Ronnie when her eidetic memory was mentioned she was getting annoyed so she snapped at everyone "Yes i have an eidetic memory and yes that helps me out so stop freaking gawping at me."

"Veronica can you please stop with the attitude, we were only staring as we never knew you had an eidetic memory, why didn't you tell anyone." Remus asked

"I just didn't want everyone looking at me even more of a freak than i am already so i kept it to myself, its not like i get bad marks or anything, can't you just leave off." Ronnie sighed

Adromeda just looked at Veronica thinking something needs to happen about her attitude but also she saw that the girl was clearly upset over something, so she decided that she would have a chat with the girl at the next break.

**She looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified, too. No one was talking much except Hermione Granger, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need.**

**Veronica tried hard not to listen to her. She'd never been more nervous, never, not even when she'd had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying that she'd somehow turned her teacher's wig blue.**

Everyone roared with laughter except Snape, he glared at Veronica and said "I knew it was you that turned my hair blue, now i have proof."

"Get over it already it happened 4 years ago and plus you deserved it anyway and there is no point scolding me on it because i am sure you will find out why i did it later on in the book." said Ronnie

**She kept her eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead her to her doom.**

'You are such a pessimist,' said Hermione rolling her eyes at her best friend who stuck her tongue out at her.

"You would be to if you lived my life and it is easier to be pessimistic rather than optermistic least that way i won't be dissapointed with the outcome." said Ronnie

**Then something happened that made her jump about a foot in the air — several people behind her screamed.**

'Bet it's the ghosts,' said Sirius.

"**What the —?"**

**She gasped. So did the people around her. About twenty ghosts**

'Told you,' said Sirius smugly.

'No one disagreed Sirius,' sighed Remus pinching his nose.

Ronnie just rolled her eyes at them.

**had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing.**

**What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance —"**

"**My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost — I say, what are you all doing here?"**

**A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years**

'This is exactly the same conversation they had when me and Tonks were sorted.' Laughed Charlie.

'And me,' said Bill.

'Me too,' chuckled Dumbledore. Most people looked at him oddly. A young Dumbledore was weird.

"**New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"**

**A few people nodded mutely.**

"**Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."**

"**Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."**

**Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.**

"**Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."**

**Feeling oddly as though her legs had turned to lead, Veronica got into line behind a boy with sandy hair, with Ron behind her, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.**

**Veronica had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place.**

Again everyone began to remember there first time through those doors.

**It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Veronica looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. She heard Hermione whisper, "Its bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in **_**Hogwarts, A History**_**." Veronica already knew this but coulnd't help but stare.**

**It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.**

**Veronica quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it in the house.**

'No you can't take the hat to Privet Drive,' said McGonagall sternly, though she herself was rather tempted.

_**Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it**_**, Veronica thought wildly, that seemed the sort of thing**

"Before anyone says something, it is what muggle magicians do." sighed Ronnie

— **noticing that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, she stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth — and the hat began to sing:'**

"Sing Ginny." said the Twins

"_**Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,**_

_**But don't judge on what you see,**_

_**I'll eat myself if you can find**_

_**A smarter hat than me.**_

The twins grinned they were going to try and make a hat smarter.

_**You can keep your bowlers black,**_

_**Your top hats sleek and tall,**_

_**For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat**_

_**And I can cap them all.**_

_**There's nothing hidden in your head**_

_**The Sorting Hat can't see,**_

_**So try me on and I will tell you**_

_**Where you ought to be.**_

_**You might belong in Gryffindor,**_

Gryffindors cheered past and present.

_**Where dwell the brave at heart,**_

_**Their daring, nerve, and chivalry**_

_**Set Gryffindors apart;**_

_**You might belong in Hufflepuff,**_

Tonks and her dad cheered.

_**Where they are just and loyal,**_

_**Those patient Hufflepuffs are true**_

_**And unafraid of toil;**_

_**Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,**_

Kingsley gave a cheer.

_**if you've a ready mind,**_

_**Where those of wit and learning,**_

_**Will always find their kind;**_

_**Or perhaps in Slytherin**_

Andromeda cheered for her house.

_**You'll make your real friends,**_

_**Those cunning folk use any means**_

_**To achieve their ends.**_

_**So put me on! Don't be afraid!**_

_**And don't get in a flap!**_

_**You're in safe hands (though I have none)**_

_**For I'm a Thinking Cap!"**_

**The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.**

"**So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Veronica. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."**

Once again McGonagall's lips went white, Snape's eyes narrowed. The trio hid they snorts with coughs.

**Veronica smiled weakly. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but she did wish they could have tried it on without everyone watching.**

**The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Veronica didn't feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment.**

**If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for her.**

'I love your thoughts,' said Fred

'Yeah they are awesome,' said George

**Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.**

"**When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"**

**A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments pause —**

"**HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.**

Tonks cheered.

**The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Veronica saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at Hannah.**

"**Bones, Susan!"**

"**HUFFLEPUFF!"**

Again Tonks cheered.

**shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.**

"**Boot, Terry!"**

"**RAVENCLAW!" **

Kinglsley cheered.

**The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.**

"**Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender"** **became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Veronica could see Ron's twin brothers catcalling.**

"**Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. Perhaps it was Veronica's imagination, after all she'd heard about Slytherin, but she thought they looked like an unpleasant lot.**

"Not all Slytherin are bad sweetheart." said Androemda

"I know that now, but i did not hear anything good about the house at that time." said Ronnie

**She was starting to feel definitely sick now. She remembered being picked for teams during gym at her old school. She had always been last to be chosen, not because she was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked her.**

"**Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"**

"**HUFFLEPUFF!"**

Tonks cheered again.

**Sometimes, Veronica noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus,"** **the sandy-haired boy next to Bella in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.**

"**Granger, Hermione!"**

**Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.**

"**GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.**

All the Gryffindor's whooped.

**Ron groaned.**

**A horrible thought struck Veronica, as horrible thoughts always do when you're very nervous. What if she wasn't chosen at all?**

**What if she just sat there with the hat over her eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off her head and said there had obviously been a mistake and she'd better get back on the train?**

'Hermione's right you are a pessimist,' chuckled Charlie.

Ronnie just hit him on the back of his head.

**When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool.**

**The hat took a long time to decide with Neville.**

**When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."**

**Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"**

**Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.**

**There weren't many people left now. "Moon"…, "Nott"… , "Parkinson"… , then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil"… , then "Perks, Sally-Anne"… , and then, at last —**

"**Potter, Veronica!"**

**As Veronica stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.**

"_**Potter**_**, did she say?"**

"_**The **_**Veronica Potter?"**

"Nah the other Veronica Potter." Ronnie said sarcastically.

**The last thing Veronica saw before the hat dropped over her eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at her. Next second she was looking at the black inside of the hat. She waited.**

"**Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult.**

'No she isn't she's a Gryffindor,' said Sirius.

Ronnie just hid herself in Charlies neck.

**Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, A my goodness, yes — and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting… So where shall I put you?"**

'You could have gone in any house,' said Ron shocked. Ronnie nodded.

'Well she is very loyal, also she is very smart, definitley couragous and very cunning when she wants to be." said Mione

"Thanks Doll." said Ronnie

"No problem Pookie." said Mione

"**Ah yes you have had a difficult life, Miss Potter, try to break that habit your relatives have you doing. Ravenclaw will be too much of a jump I think. Shame you would have been fantastic there now where to put you. Hufflepuff I can see already you are very loyal to your first friends Ron Weasley and Rebeus Hagrid of course. But perhaps again too much of a jump hmm."**

**Ronnie gripped the edges of the stool and thought, **_**Not Slytherin, not Slytherin**_**.**

"**Not Slytherin, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head,**

'So Potter was almost in_ my_ house!' said Snape in a shocked voice.

Ronnie was still hiding herself in the crook of Charlie's neck, Ron and Mione came over to talk to her.

"Ronnie babe, why didn't you tell me and Ron." said Mione

"Yeah we wouldn't have thought any less of you." said Ron

"I'm sorry i didn't tell you, i just find it hard to let people know about my life, and it looks like not everyone is ok with me nearly being a Slytherin, look at Snape and Sirius." Whisphered Ronnie

"Don't worry about Snape just let him get over it and i think Remus will have something to say to Sirius for you." said Mione.

**and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that — no?**

**Well, if you're sure — better be GRYFFINDOR!"**

Like with Hermione everyone cheered and whooped the twins got up and yelled 'We got Potter! We got Potter!' again making those who had been there laugh.

**Veronica heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. She took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table. She was so relieved to have been chosen and not put in Slytherin, she hardly noticed that she was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy the Prefect got up and shook her hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"**

Those who weren't there laughed, now fully understanding the joke.

**Veronica sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff she'd seen earlier. The ghost patted her arm, giving Veronica the sudden, horrible feeling she'd just plunged it into a bucket of ice-cold water.**

The people who had had this done to them shivered involuntarily.

**She could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest her sat Hagrid, who caught her eye and gave her the thumbs up. Veronica grinned back. And there, in the centre of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore.**

**Veronica recognised him at once from the card she'd gotten out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore's** **silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. Veronica spotted Professor Quirrell, too, the nervous young man from the Leaky Cauldron. He was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban.**

Ronnie forced herself not to shudder though she did grow paler, Sirius and Remus noticed.

**And now there were only three people left to be sorted. "Thomas, Dean," a Black boy even taller than Ron, joined Bella at the Gryffindor table.**

"**Turpin, Lisa," became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now.**

**Veronica crossed her fingers under the table **

'Thanks,' said Ron

'How do you know I wasn't wishing you were somewhere else?' she teased.

'The look on your face when I got Gryffindor.' he teased back.

**and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"**

**Veronica clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to her.**

"**Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously across Veronica** **as "Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin.**

Ginny Blushed as she heard his name.

**Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.**

**Veronica looked down at her empty gold plate. She had only just realised how hungry she was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago.**

**Albus Dumbledore** **had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.**

"**Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!**

"**Thank you!"**

'Brilliant speech, sir' laughed Tonks

'One of my best,' chuckled Dumbledore.

**He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Veronica didn't know whether to laugh or not.**

"**Is he — a bit mad?" she asked Percy uncertainly.**

Ronnie blushed a bright red as everyone laughed at her; Dumbledore's being one of the loudest.

'Indeed I am; I find it is a tad boring if not' smiled Dumbledore.

"**Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Veronica?"**

Ronnie grimaced, she hated that he had always called her Veronica.

**Veronica's mouth fell open.**

**The dishes in front of her were now piled with food. She had never seen so many things she liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.**

**The Dursleys favourite punishment was to starve Veronica, but even when she wasn't starved she'd never been allowed to eat as much as she liked. Dudley had always taken anything that Veronica really wanted, even if it made him sick.**

Everyone growled.

'**Er, just Ronnie' she said nervously to Percy.**

'Don't you like your name,' said Remus, Ronnie just shook her head and went back to ignoring him trying to figure out what she was suspossed to do.

**Then Veronica piled her plate with a bit of everything except the peppermints and began to eat. It was all delicious.**

"**That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Ronnie cut up her steak.**

"**Can't you —?"**

"**I haven't eaten for nearly five hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it.**

'Ron could never be a ghost,' laughed Ginny at her brother who was eating a chocolate frog.

'Oi! is it pick on Ron day.'

'No that's next week were just practicing,' said Ronnie reassuringly.

'Oh ha ha,' said Ron sarcastically then grinned evilly. 'Fred, George Ronnie knows who the Marauders are!'

The twins looked at her their eyes wide.

'You know –' started Fred

'Tell us!' said George excitedly.

'You will find out when i found out." said Ronnie while the Twins just pouted.

**I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."**

"**I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you — you're Nearly Headless Nick!"**

"**I would **_**prefer **_**you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy —" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.**

"_**Nearly **_**Headless? How can you be **_**nearly **_**headless?"**

**Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted.**

'Oh that's exactly what he wanted,' said Charlie laughing

'Ghost, love to talk about how they died.' Said Tonks, who was laughing.

"**Like **_**this**_**," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased **

'See,' chuckled Charlie

"No one disagree Char." said Ronnie

Charlie just pouted at her.

**at the stunned looks on their faces,** **Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed, and said, "So — new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable — he's the Slytherin ghost."**

**Ronnie looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood.**

**He was right next to Malfoy who, Ronnie was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.**

"**How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.**

"**I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.**

'We have!' said Sirius and the twins.

'He chased you all around the school,' said Remus laughing at the memory.

**When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding…**

**As Ronnie helped herself to a treacle tart,**

Ronnie's mouth just drooled at the thought of anything treacle.

**the talk turned to their families.**

"**I'm half-and-half," said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mum didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."**

**The others laughed.**

Snape paled knowing how that could backfire.

"**What about you, Neville?" said Ron.**

"**Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," said Neville, "but the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages.**

'All Muggle?' asked Hermione

'Old fashioned word for Squib,' said Sirius. Hermione nodded.

**My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me — he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned — but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced — all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy.**

'That's awful,' said Hermione.

'No wonder he has confidence issues." said Ronnie

**And you should have seen their faces when I got in here — they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."**

**On Ronnie's other side, Percy Weasley and Hermione were talking about lessons**

**("I **_**do **_**hope they start right away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration,** **you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult —"; **

**"You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing —.**

**Ronnie, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore.**

**Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin.**

Everybody just trying to hid their sniggers.

**It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Ronnie's eyes — and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Ronnie's forehead.**

Those who didn't know about Quirrell looked confused.

"**Ouch!" Ronnie clapped a hand to her head.**

"**What is it?" asked Percy.**

"**N-nothing."**

**The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder to shake off was the feeling Ronnie had gotten from the teacher's look — a feeling that he didn't like Ronnie at all.**

'So she hadn't even spoke to you yet,' hissed Sirius 'For Merlin's sake, don't take your revenge out on a girl who wasn't even _thought_ of, When we did those things to you and you weren't innocent yourself!' Said Sirius, angrily.

"**Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" she asked Percy.**

"**Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape.**

**He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to — everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."**

Sirius couldn't help but smirk at this even the students knew Snape's reputation.

**Ronnie watched Snape for a while, but Snape didn't look at her again.**

Snape was thinking about how he had felt when he had seen her look directly into his eyes. Flash blacks, of had flown back, everything he had lost thrown in his face. And on clone of one of his most hated enemies.

**At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore** **got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.**

"**Ahem — just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."**

**Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.**

'He did that to us too!' cried Sirius

'He does it to us an' all,' said Ron smiling.

"**I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.**

"**Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.**

Ronnie grinned at Professor McGonagall who smiled back.

"**And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."**

'That's what you did that year wasn't it,' sighed Mr Weasley. The trio looked sheepish.

'Brilliant,' muttered Sirius 'Bloody brilliant.'

**Ronnie laughed, but she was one of the few who did.**

"**He's not serious?"** **she muttered to Percy.**

"**Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore.**

**"It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere — the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."**

"Alas i do not tell prefects everything." said Dumbledore

"**And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore.**

**Ronnie noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.**

The children sniggered at this.

'You don't like the song?' asked Dumbledore.

'We love the song Albus,' said McGonagall 'We are all rather tired that's all,' the real reason is that the students always shouted it and as they sung at different paces it often gave them a headache.

**Dumbledore** **gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.**

"**Everyone pick their favourite tune," said Dumbledore,**

**"and off we go!"**

**And the school bellowed: **(As did most the people in the room)

"_**Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,**_

_**Teach us something please,**_

_**Whether we be old and bald**_

_**Or young with scabby knees,**_

_**Our heads could do with filling**_

_**With some interesting stuff,**_

_**For now they're bare and full of air,**_

_**Dead flies and bits of fluff,**_

_**So teach us things worth knowing,**_

_**Bring back what we've forgot,**_

_**just do your best, we'll do the rest,**_

_**And learn until our brains all rot."**_

The twins did the funeral march.

**Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore** **conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.**

'Cracking headmaster,' said Fred

'Indeed George cracking,' said George.

'Don't be cruel,' said Ronnie 'Stop trying to confuse everyone.' The twins looked at her shocked she smiled back smugly.

"**Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"**

'What are we horses?' muttered Ron quietly.

**The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Ronnie's legs were like lead again, but only because she was so tired and full of food. She was too sleepy even to be surprised that the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries.**

'Aw how sweet,' cooed Fred

'Ickle Ronnie aww twerd,' cooed George, Ronnie glared at them.

**They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Ronnie was just wondering how much farther they had to go when they came to a sudden halt.**

**A bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him.**

"**Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves — show yourself."**

**A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.**

"**Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"**

**There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.**

The twins and Sirius grinned at this.

"**Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"**

**He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked.**

"**Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.**

**Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armour as he passed.**

"**You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."**

**At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.**

"**Password?" she said.**

"**Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it — Neville needed a leg up — **

"It's always Neville." sighed Ronnie

**and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cosy, round room full of squashy armchairs.**

**Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another.**

"**See you" she called to Ron as she headed for her dorm. **

**At the top of a spiral staircase — they were obviously in one of the towers — they found their beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pyjamas and fell into bed. **

"**That was fascinating wasn't it?" Hermione muttered to Ronnie through the hangings. **

**Ronnie was going to ask Hermione if she'd had any of the treacle tart, but she fell asleep almost at once.**

'I wondered why you didn't respond,' mused Hermione.

**Perhaps Ronnie had eaten a bit too much, because she had a very strange dream. She was wearing Professor Quirrell's turban, which kept talking to her, telling her she must transfer to Slytherin at once, because it was her destiny. Ronnie told the turban she didn't want to be in Slytherin;**

'Good girl,' said the twins together, Sirius gave an approving nod.

Ronnie just looked at the wall sadly. While Ron and Mione glared at them for being insensitive.

**it got heavier and heavier; she tried to pull it off but it tightened painfully — and there was Malfoy, laughing at her as she struggled with it — then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold — there was a burst of green light and Ronnie woke, sweating and shaking.**

'Do you always have dreams like that?' said Sirius worriedly.

Ronnie didn't hear him as she was lost in thoughts about her most recent dreams.

**She rolled over and fell asleep again, and when she woke next day, she didn't remember the dream at all.**

'That's it,' said Ginny.

'Here I'll read,' said Fred grabbing the book.


	11. The Potions Master

**The Potions Master**

"How come he has his own chapter." whined Sirius

Ronnie just rolled her eyes at Sirius

**"There, look."**

**"Where?"**

**"Next to the tall kid with the red hair."**

**"Did you see her face?"**

**"Did you see her scar?"**

"That probably got annoying really quick." Bill snorted

Tonks had a faint blush at seeing Ronnie nod; she had been one of the few to ogle at the poor kids scar.

**Whispers followed Ronnie from the moment she left her dormitory the next day. People lining up outside classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at her, or doubled back to pass her in the corridors again, staring.**

**Ronnie wished they wouldn't, because she was trying to concentrate on finding her way to classes.**

"They should have been helping you not treating you like a sideshow act." Ronnie smiled sweetly at the dragon keeper and gave him a kiss on the lips.

**There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts:**

"You counted?" laughed Ginny

Hermione rolled her eyes "Of course she didn't it's in Hogwarts A History."

**wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. Even with her memory she had trouble keeping track of everything worked within the castle.**

**The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Ronnie was sure the coats of armour could walk.**

Just as the George were about to comment Snape silenced them with a death glare, he needed this chapter over because he knew he was unfair to Ronnie.

**The ghosts didn't help, either. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open. Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point new Gryffindor's in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class.**

**He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"**

"Moony taught him that!" Sirius let out a laugh.

Hermione shook her head at her favourite professor, he always did that to her at the worst possible times.

**Even worse than Peeves, if that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch. Ronnie and Ron managed to get on the wrong side of him on their very first morning. **

**Filch found them trying to force their way through a door that unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor.**

**He wouldn't believe they were lost, was sure they were trying to break into it on purpose, and was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued by Professor Quirrell, who was passing.**

"Yeah right, more like making sure it was still there." Muttered Hermione and Ronnie. Remus looked at his daughter questioningly.

**Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-colored creature with bulging, lamp like eyes just like Filch's. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later.**

**Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins) and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick.**

"I did that a few times, that damn cat always got me into trouble." Seeing their shocked faces Kingsley asked "What? Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Most adults wouldn't admit that." Sneered Snape

**And then, once you had managed to find them, there were the classes themselves. There was a lot more to magic, everyone quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words. **

**They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for. Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, which was the only one taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates, and got Emetic the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up.**

**Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Ronnie's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.**

"Charms is one of my best subjects." Ronnie remarked

**Professor McGonagall was again different. Ronnie had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class.**

**"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."**

**Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time but even after hearing that Ronnie was still excited about this class, it seemed like one of the most interesting.**

**After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. Ronnie had done it instantly, you had to visualize what the needle looked like and you had to remember the feel of the metal in your hand almost.**

Everyone looked at her in complete shock. Dumbledore cleared his throat "That's very impressive my dear you're a natural much like your father."

"I know and I am glad to have something's in common with my parents." Said Ronnie

**Hermione looked a little jealous at first but then gave Ronnie a small smile.**

**The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather;**

Bill and Charlie snorted at that, he seemed like such a good teacher.

**for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.**

Ronnie, Hermione and Ron glared at the book. While most of the people in the room was wondering why.

**Ronnie was very relieved to find out that she wasn't miles behind everyone else. Lots of people had come from Muggle families and, like her, hadn't had any idea that they were witches and wizards. There was so much to learn that even people like Ron didn't have much of a head start.**

"You thought...you thought you were behind?" Snape asked but it didn't have any hate in it.

"I don't like to make a big deal about being smart." Said Ronnie

**Friday was an important day for Ronnie and Ron. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once. Ronnie had already knew how to get there but Ron didn't so she insisted he lead them till he didn't get lost.**

**"What have we got today?" Ronnie asked Ron as she poured sugar on her porridge.**

**"Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favours them — we'll be able to see if it's true."**

**"Wish McGonagall favoured us," said Ronnie****.**

**Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before.**

**Just then, the mail arrived. Ronnie had gotten used to this by now, but it had given her a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps. Hedwig hadn't brought Ronnie anything so far. She sometimes flew in to nibble her ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls.**

Sirius and Remus were both thinking they would send her some stuff when she goes back to Hogwarts.

**This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note onto Ronnie's plate.**

**Ronnie tore it open at once. It said, in a very untidy scrawl:**

**Dear Veronica****,**

**I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig.**

**Hagrid**

Charlie smiled at that. Hagrid was awesome and he protected Ronnie even though she would never admit to needing protection of any kind.

**Ronnie borrowed Ron's quill, scribbled Yes, please, see you later on the back of the note, and sent Hedwig off again.**

**It was lucky that Ronnie had tea with Hagrid to look forward to, because the Potions lesson turned out to be the worst thing that had happened to her so far.**

**At the start-of-term banquet, Ronnie had gotten the idea that Professor Snape disliked her. By the end of the first Potions lesson, she knew she'd been wrong. Snape didn't dislike Ronnie**

Everyone's eyebrows went up with this, maybe he let the grudge against her dad and Sirius go.

— **he hated her.**

Sirius scowled at that, he had no right to hate her. Remus slipped his hand into his husbands not wanting to strangle the man sitting across from them.

"Hate is a very strong word Potter." Remarked Snape

Ronnie just ignored him and snuggled up to Charlie.

**Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.**

**Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Ronnies name.**

**"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Veronica Potter. Our new — celebrity."**

Everyone glared at him, she obviously hated her fame but he was too stubborn to see that. Snape had the decency to shift a little at that, he knew his anger was wrongly placed but how to fix it after all these years?

**Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.**

**"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word — like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort.**

**"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even stopper death— if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."**

"Great speech." Bill commented at Snapes nod he continued "until you called them dunderheads." Before he could snarl out a reply Dumbledore interrupted

"We will be talking later Severus."

**More silence followed this little speech. Ronnie and Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.**

**"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"**

"That's not something a first year would know!" Snapped Tonks

"**Drought of the living dead sir." Ronniie replied immediately**

Tonks looked shocked at that along with some of the others.

**Snape looked shocked so he seemed to try and through her off again. **

**"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" **

**Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, but **

**"In the stomach of a goat sir." Ronnie knew he was testing her and trying to make her look like an idiot, **_**well good luck with that**_** she thought.**

Hermione laughed at that, proving Ronnie wrong was always difficult.

**Snape looked like someone had just slapped him. **

**"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" **

**"There the same thing sir." **

**"Well at least someone from Gryffindor knows something Snape sneered "And a point will be given Gryffindor House" He said reluctantly.**

Ronnie muttered under her breath, "Stupid biased dungeon bat."

**But things got worse for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.**

"Was he okay?" asked a concerned Arthur

Snape nodded he was starting to see how unfair he could be.

**"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"**

**Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.**

**"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Ronnie and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.**

**"You — Potter — why didn't you tell him not to add the quills?**

"That's totally unfair to blame Ronnie when she was concentrating on her own potion." Said Bill

**Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's ten points you've lost for Gryffindor."**

**That was complete bullshit just as Ronnie opened her mouth to argue, but Ron kicked her behind their cauldron.**

**"Don't push it," he muttered, "I've heard Snape can turn very nasty."**

**Even though she really wanted to argue with him, she decided to get revenge in a different way. She decided she was going to turn his hair a different colour, when all of a sudden his hair turned bright read with gold highlights, everyone burst out laughing at him.**

Everyone in the in the room laughed while Snape just glared at Ronnie he knew she had something to do with his hair changing colour but could not prove it.

**As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Ronnie's mind was racing and her spirits were low. She'd lost ten points for Gryffindor in her very first week**

—**why did Snape hate her so much?**

Sirius glared at Snape it was a wonder he wasn't in flames.

**"Cheer up," said Ron, "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George. Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?"**

"Nice change of topic Ron." Smirked Remus

**At five to three they left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door.**

**When Ronnie knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "Back, Fang —back."**

**Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open.**

**"Hang on," he said. "Back, Fang."**

**He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound.**

**There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling; a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.**

**"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.**

"Watch out for the ones with cute names." Said Ronnie

**"This is Ron," Ronnie told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.**

**"Another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles.**

**"I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."**

"What were you doing near the forest!" screeched Molly

"Thinking of a way to go explore." Ronnie said Deadpanned.

**The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but Ronnie and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons.**

**Fang rested his head on Ronnie's knee and drooled all over her robes.**

**Ronnie and Ron were delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch "that old git."**

**"An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her — Filch puts her up to it."**

**Ronnie told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid, like Ron, told Ronnie not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students.**

**"But he seemed to really hate me."**

**"Rubbish!" said Hagrid. "Why should he?"**

**Yet Ronnie couldn't help thinking that Hagrid didn't quite meet her eyes when he said that.**

Dumbledore chuckled at that, Hagrid was a horrible liar.

**"How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron. "I liked him a lot — great with animals."**

Charlie beamed at that, Ronnie loved when he smiled, it could light up a room.

**Ronnie wondered if Hagrid had changed the subject on purpose. While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons, Ronnie picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cozy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet:**

**GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST**

_**Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.**_

_**"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokes goblin this afternoon.**_

Bill laughed at that "Goblins are very territorial, they don't like when we get into their business."

**Ronnie remembered Ron telling her on the train that someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but Ron hadn't mentioned the date.**

**"Hagrid!" said Ronnie, "that Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"**

**There was no doubt about it; Hagrid definitely didn't meet Ronnie's eyes this time. He grunted and offered her another rock cake. Ronnie read the story again. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied earlier that same day. Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen, if you could call it emptying, taking out that grubby little package. Had that been what the thieves were looking for?**

**As Ronnie and Ron walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes they'd been too polite to refuse,**

"We still do that." Mused Mione

**Ronnie thought that none of the lessons she'd had so far had given her as much to think about as tea with Hagrid. **

Hermione looked at her with a questioningly look.

"I have an eidetic memory Mione; I didn't have to review my lessons right away." Ronnie laughed at the blush her friend was sporting.

**Had Hagrid collected that package just in time? Where was it now? And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn't want to tell Ronnie?**

"That's the chapter finished." Remarked Fred

"Whose next." Fred asked while holding up the book.

I will read next if you don't mind." Said Mrs Weasley

Sorry I haven't updated in a while I have been busy sorting out stuff with family as well as trying to keep on top of my medical problams.

I am sorry if you find any mistakes in here but I cant always see them.

Please review and if you have any ideas don't hesitate to tell me.


	12. The Midnight Duel

"**The Midnight Duel." **said Mrs Weasley

"I hope you guys didn't have a fight." Scowled Mrs Weasley

Ronnie rolled her eyes at the book, stupid Malfoy couldn't even show up.

**Ronnie had ****never believed she would meet a boy she hated more than Dudley, but that was before she met Draco Malfoy. Still, first-year Gryffindor's only had Potions with the Slytherins, so they didn't have to put up with Malfoy much. Or at least, they didn't until th****ey spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room that made them all groan. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday — and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together. **

"**Sure put the Gryffindor and the Slytherins together, they're not**** rivals in the least so we'll put them together for flying lessons!" Ronnie muttered darkly**

"A little annoyed kid?" smiled Kingsley

"You could say that." Said Ronnie

**She had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else.**

**"You'll do great,****" said Ron reasonably. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."**

Hermione laughed at that, it was true. Malfoy couldn't play Quidditch to save his life.

**Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a ****lot. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the house Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters.**

"I want to see him fly." Charlie smirked "He probably never even went that high."

Ronnie laughed at that, it was a known fact Malfoy on a broom was never a good thing.

**He wasn't the only one, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick. Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang glider on Charlie's old broom.**

"You did what." Shouted Mrs Weasley

Ron just ignored her

**Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly.**

**Ron had already had a**** big argument with Dean Thomas, who shared their dormitory, about soccer. Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly.**

**Ronnie had caught Ron prodding Dean's poster of West Ham soccer team, trying to ma****ke the players move.**

Ron blushed at that, he didn't think anyone had noticed.

**Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Privately, Ronnie felt she'd had good reason, because Neville managed to ****have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground. Hermione Granger was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was.**

**This was something you couldn't learn by heart out of a book — not that she hadn't tried. At breakfast on Thurs****day she bored them all stupid with flying tips she'd gotten out of a library book called Quidditch Through the Ages.**

"You can't learn how to fly from a book Hermione." Sirius gave her a gentle smile

Hermione sighed "I know that now and I prefer my feet on the ground."

**Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later, but everybody else was very pleased when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the mail. Ronnie hadn't had a s****ingle letter since Hagrid's note, something that Malfoy had been quick to notice, of course. Malfoy's eagle owl was always bringing him packages of sweets from home, which he opened gloatingly at the Slytherin table.**

Everyone gave Ronnie pitying looks but she was not paying attention to them.

**A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke.**

**"It's a Remembrall!"**

"I love those!" exclaimed Tonks

Kingsley shook his head "But they don't tell you what you've forgotten, they're useless."

"They're neat." Tonks bit out

Dumbledore shook his head at the aurors

**he explained. "Gran knows I forget things — this tells you if there's someth****ing you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red — oh…" His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, "… you've forgotten something…"**

**Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten when Draco Malfoy****, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hand.**

**Ronnie and Ron jumped to their feet. Ronnie was half hoping for a reason to punch Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the scho****ol, was there in a flash.**

"Would you have really punched him?" Ginny asked

"Of course I would have, just needed to make sure it was made to look like self-defence or nobody saw me punch him." Said Ronnie smiling she liked that she punched Malfoy it was worth losing the points over.

**"What's going on?"**

**"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."**

**Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table.**

**"Just looking,"**

"Last time I heard you looked with your eyes not your hands." Hermione said

**he said, a****nd he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.**

**At three-thirty that afternoon, Ronnie, Ron, and the other Gryffindor's hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under**** their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.**

"It's not that bad in there really." Ronnie remarked before she had a chance to shut her mouth.

Sirius snapped his head in her direction so fast she was surprised it didn't break "Just what were you doing in the forest young lady?"

"Just detention if I serve my memory correctly but it's not like you can say much seeing as you used to go in the forest all the time without thinking of consequences." Said Ronnie while Ron and Mione where staring at her in disbelief.

Andromeda had made up her mind to speak to Ronnie in the next break; she wanted to get down to what was making Ronnie so snappy.

**The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Ronnie had heard Fred and George Weasley complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too h****igh, or always flew slightly to the left. Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, ****grey**** hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk. **

**"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."**

**Ronnie glanced dow****n at her broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles.**

**"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"**

**"UP" everyone shouted.**

**Ronnie's broom jumped into her hand at once, but it was one of th****e few that did.**

Charlie grinned and gave her a sweet kiss "You're a natural Green Eyes."

"You already knew that Char." Whispered Ronnie in his ear that made him shiver and get a goofy smile on his face.

**Hermione Granger's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, thought Ronni****e; there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground. ****Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. R****onnie and Ron were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.**

**"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leanin****g forward slightly. On my whistle — three — two —"**

**But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.**

**"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight ****up like a cork shot out of a bottle — twelve feet — twenty feet. Ronnie saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and —**

**WHAM — a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay face down on the grass i****n a heap.**

"Ouch" winced Tonks sympathetically, she'd done that before and it always hurt.

**His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight.**

**Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her**** face as white as his.**

**"Broken wrist," Ronnie heard her mutter. "Come on, boy — it's all right, up you get."**

**She turned to the rest of the class.**

**"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or y****ou'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."**

Hermione, Ron and Ronnie stifled laughter at that with great difficulty.

**Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him****.**

**No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.**

**"Did you see his face, the great lump?"**

**The other Slytherins joined in.**

**"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.**

**"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced ****Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat little ****cry-babies****, Parvati."**

**"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."**

"If it's so stupid why does he insist on touching it?" Fred looked over to Hermione

She shrugged "I don't know, he doesn't like when others get things I suppose."

**The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.**

**"Give that here, Malfoy," said Ronnie quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch.**

**Malfoy ****smiled nastily.**

**"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find — how about — up a tree?"**

**"Give it here!" Ronnie yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well.**

**Hovering level with the topmos****t branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter!"**

**Ronnie grabbed her broom.**

**"No!" shouted Hermione Granger. "Madam Hooch told us not to move — you'll get us all into trouble."**

Ginny snorted "That's all you care about? Getting into trouble?"

"Actually I was concerned about Ronnie getting hurt but I didn't know how to say that because we weren't friends' yet smart ass!" everyone was shocked at Hermione's outburst, she usually didn't swear.

**Ronnie ignored her. Blood was pounding in her ears. She mount****ed the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up she soared; air rushed through her hair, and her robes whipped out behind her — and in a rush of fierce joy she realized she'd found something she could do without being taught — this was easy, thi****s was wonderful.**

**She pulled her broomstick up a little to take it even ****higher**** and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron.**

**She turned her broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in ****mid-air****. Malfoy looked stunned.**

"I'm sure he was!" Tonks laughed "You were raised by asshole Muggles and have never been on a broom and you're already flying really well."

Charlie couldn't help but brag a little "She is an amazing flyer." Ronnie elbowed him in the stomach at that.

**"Give it her****e," Ronnie called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"**

"Please do." Smiled Bill

**"Oh, yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried.**

**Ronnie knew, somehow, what to do. She leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot tow****ard Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Ronnie made a sharp about-face and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping.**

**"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Ronnie called.**

**The same thought see****med to have struck Malfoy.**

**"Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back toward the ground.**

**Ronnie saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. She leaned forw****ard and pointed her broom handle down — next second she was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball — wind whistled in her ears, mingled with the screams of people watching — she stretched out her hand — a foot from the ground she caught it, just ****in time to pull her broom straight, and she toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in her fist.**

Everyone cheered for Ronnie at that.

"You did that on a school broom." Asked Tonks and Ronnie just nodded her head snuggling into Charlie.

**"VERONICA POTTER!"**

**Her heart sank faster than she'd just dived. Professor McGonagall was running toward them.**

**She got to her feet, trembling.**

Remus looked sadly at his Ronnie, she shouldn't be afraid of getting scolded. He leaned into Sirius who wrapped an arm around his husband in hopes of calming them both down.

**"Never — in all my time at Hogwarts —"**

**Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "— how dare you — might have broken your neck —"**

**"It wasn****'t her fault, Professor —"**

**"Be quiet, Miss Patil —"**

**"But Malfoy —"**

**"That's enough, ****Mr**** Weasley. Potter, follow me, now."**

**Ronnie caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's triumphant faces as she left, walking numbly in Professor McGonagall's wake as she ****strode toward the castle. Would they expel her for this or just give her a detention?**

"Worse case scenario is detention with Filch." The twins commented straight faced

Ronnie nodded her head solemnly at that.

**She wanted to say something to defend herself, ****but she knew it was useless. Every time Uncle Vernon punished her she had tried to defend her actions but that just made the punishment worse. She hoped they would go easy on her but the chances were slim to none with that.**

"I will never let anything happen to you Green Eyes, your safety is my number one priority." Whispered Charlie

"Thanks Char." Said Ronnie while kissing his cheek

**Ronnie shuddered at the thought. Professor McGonagall hadn't noticed, she was still walking ****determinedly.**

**Up the front steps,**** up the marble staircase inside, and still Professor McGonagall didn't say a word to her. She wrenched open doors and marched along corridors with Ronnie trotting miserably behind her. Maybe she was taking her to Dumbledore. She thought of Hagrid, maybe he**** would let her become his assistant she thought amusedly. But watching the others becoming proper witches and wizards made her stomach clench.**

"How would that be for irony?" George laughed

Fred laughed out "The girl who lived never becoming a proper witch!"

Ronnie glared at them which the both promptly shut up.

**Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside.**

**"Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"**

**Wood? thought Ronnie, terrified; wa****s Wood a cane she was going to use on her?**

"No one as long as I am headmaster will ever be beaten as a form of punishment." Dumbledore said looking grave at the thought of anyone being treated like that.

**But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth-ye****ar boy who came out of Flitwick's class looking confused.**

**"Follow me, you two," said Professor McGonagall, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Ronnie.**

**"In here."**

**Professor McGonagall pointed them into a classroom that was empty e****xcept for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard.**

Tonks turned to a blushing Charlie "I still can't believe you taught him that but I have to admit it was hilarious."

"Charles Weasley how dare you teach others rude words, I can't believe you." Shouted Mrs Weasley. Charlie glared at Tonks it was her fault for mentioning it.

**"Out, Peeves!" she barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out cursing. Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind him and tur****ned to face the two students.**

**"Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood — I've found you a Seeker."**

**Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight.**

Sirius jumped up and hugged Ronnie but she stayed stiff in his arms "Congratulations Bambi, I'm proud of you for getting on the team first year." Ronnie just shrugged her shoulders indifferently.

While Remus came over and whispered in her ear "You could act more excited for him, we do love you." But Ronnie was trying not to listen.

**"Are you serious, Professor?"**

**"****Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply. "The girl's a natural. I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?"**

**Ronnie nodded silently. She didn't have a clue what was going on, but she didn't seem to be being ex****pelled, and some of the feeling started coming back to her legs.**

**"She caught that thing in her hand after a fifty-foot dive," Professor McGonagall told Wood. "Didn't even scratch herself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it."**

"Not on a school broom I couldn't." said Charlie and hugged Ronnie as she was looking upset after Remus had talked to her.

**Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had come true at once.**

**"Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?" he asked excitedly.**

**"Wood's captain of the Gryffind****or team," Professor McGonagall explained.**

**"She's just the build for a Seeker, too," said Wood, now walking around Ronnie and staring at her. "Light —speedy — we'll have to get her a decent broom, Professor — a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd**** say."**

**"I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks…"**

Sirius laughed at that, McGonagall was more of a Quidditch nut than any other teacher.

**Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Ronnie.**

**"I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you."**

**Then she suddenly smiled.**

**"Y****our father would have been proud," she said. "He was an excellent Quidditch player himself."**

**"You're joking."**

**It was dinnertime. Ronnie had just finished telling Ron what had happened when she'd left the grounds with Professor McGonagall. Ron had a piece of steak and kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgotten all about it. **

"You made Ron forget about food." Said the twins wide eyed.

**"Seeker?" he said. "But first years never — you must be the youngest house player in about —"**

"— **a century," said Ro****nnie, eating more than she usually would. She felt particularly hungry after the excitement of the afternoon. "Wood told me."**

**Ron was so amazed, so ****impressed;**** he just sat and gaped at Ronnie.**

**"I start training next week," said Ronnie. "Only don't tell anyo****ne, Wood wants to keep it a secret."**

**Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, spotted Ronnie, and hurried over.**

**"Well done," said George in a low voice. "Wood told us. We're on the team too — Beaters."**

Ronnie smiled at the twins "best beaters we ever had."

"Thanks Ronnie!" the twins hugged her that was high praise coming from her.

**"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year," said Fred. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You m****ust be good, Ronnie, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."**

**"Anyway, we've got to ****go;**** Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school."**

**"Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. ****See you."**

Remus looked mildly impressed at that but they were nowhere near where the marauders were at one time.

**Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.**

**"Having a last meal, Potte****r? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"**

**"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Ronnie coolly. There was of course nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the H****igh Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl.**

**"I'd take you on anytime on my own," said Malfoy. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only — no contact.**

**What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's**** duel before, I suppose?"**

**"Of course she has," said Ron, wheeling around. "I'm her second, who's yours?"**

"How dare you accept a duel for someone else Ronald Bilius Weasley, don't you know how much trouble you could get into." Ranted Mrs Weasley while Ron just sat there blushing.

**Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up.**

**"Crabbe," he said. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked."**

**When Malfoy had gone, Ron and Ronnie looked at each other.**

"**What is wrong with you? It's obv****iously a trick!" Ronnie practically yelled. "He won't even show up I bet. Wait...what does it mean that you're my second?"**

**"Well, a second's there to take over if you die," said Ron casually, getting started at last on his cold pie. Catching the look on Ro****nnie's face, he added quickly, "But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at ****each other. Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refus****e, anyway."**

"**Real wizards? Thanks for telling me we are not even real wizards****?" snarked Ronnie**

Everyone laughed at Ronnie's sense of humour.

**"Excuse me."**

**They both looked up. It was Hermione Granger.**

**"Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" said Ron.**

**Hermione ****ignored him and spoke to Ronnie.**

**"I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying —"**

**"Bet you could," Ron muttered.**

**"— and you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you****'re bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."**

"That was a low blow Hermione." Remarked Tonks

Hermione blushed but didn't say anything, her and Ronnie already talked about it.

**"And it's really none of your business," said Ronnie.**

**"Good-bye," said Ron.**

**All ****the same, it wasn't what you'd call the perfect end to the day, Ronnie thought, as she lay awake much later listening to Lavender and Parvati talking. Hermione was already asleep having read most of a book before going to sleep. Ron had spent all**

**evening g****iving her advice such as "If he tries to curse you, you'd better dodge it, because I can't remember how to block them."**

"That was really useful mate, helped me out last June." Said Ronnie sadly while trying not to think of Cedric.

**Before goin****g up to bed himself.**

**There was a very good chance they were going to get caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris, and Ronnie felt she was pushing her luck, breaking another school rule today. On the other hand, Malfoy's sneering face kept looming up out of the dark****ness — this was her big chance to beat Malfoy face-to-face. She couldn't miss it.**

**"Half-past eleven," Ronnie thought to herself, "I better go and find Ron"**

**Ronnie crept past the giggling girls and down the stairs for the girls dormitories, she found Ron in**** the common room. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows. They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from the chair nearest them, "I can't believe you're going to do this, Ro****nnie."**

**A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger, wearing a pink bathrobe and a frown.**

"I can't believe I fell for that act." Ronnie said seriously.

While Mione was trying not to look smug about it.

**"You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"**

**"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped****, "Percy — he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."**

**Ronnie couldn't believe anyone could be so interfering. She was also sure that Hermione had been asleep.**

**"Come on," she said to Ron. She pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the h****ole.**

**Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose.**

"An angry goose?" laughed Remus

"You'll have to do that impersonation for us sometime." Tonks snorted

**"Don't you care about ****Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I don't want Slytherin to win the house cup, and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."**

**"Go away."**

**"All right, but I warned you, you just remember what ****I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so —"**

"I can't see them getting expelled for something like that." Remarked Sirius kindly

Hermione mock glared and turned away much to the amusement of Fred.

**But what they were, they didn't find out. He****rmione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty painting. The Fat Lady had gone on a night time visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor tower.**

"Good old karma, just got to love it when it shows up in the most random of times." Said the twins

**"Now wha****t am I going to do?" she asked shrilly.**

**"That's your problem," said Ron. "We've got to go, we're going to be late."**

**They hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione caught up with them.**

**"I'm coming with you," she said.**

**"You are not."**

**"D'you ****think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all three of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up."**

"Right." Snorted Bill "Filch just loved kids so he'll listen."

**"You've got some n****erve —" said Ron loudly.**

**"Shut up, both of you!" said Ronnie sharply. "I heard something."**

**It was a sort of snuffling.**

**"Mrs. Norris?" breathed Ron, squinting through the dark.**

**It wasn't Mrs. Norris. It was Neville. He was curled up on the floor, fast aslee****p, but jerked suddenly awake as they crept nearer.**

**"Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours, I couldn't remember the new password to get in to bed."**

**"Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig snout' but it won't help you now, the**** Fat Lady's gone off somewhere."**

**"How's your arm?" said Ronnie**

"You're so sweet Ronnie." Said Tonks

**"Fine," said Neville, showing them. "Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute."**

**"Good — well, look, Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later —****"**

**"Don't leave me!" said Neville, scrambling to his feet, "I don't want to stay here **

**alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already."**

"I somehow doubt it's pure coincidence either." Snarled Remus

**Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Her****mione and Neville.**

**"If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learned that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about, and used it on you."**

**Hermione opened her mouth, perhaps to tell Ron exactly how to use the Curse of the Bogies,**

**but ****Ronnie hissed at her to be quiet and beckoned them all forward.**

**They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Ronnie expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but they were lucky. They sped up a staircase**** to the third floor and tiptoed toward the trophy room.**

**Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet.**

Bill smirked at that "That's because they won't show."

Kingsley laughed "Never listen to a Slytherin I suppose."

Snape just scowled at them.

**The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonl****ight caught them. Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Ronnie took out her wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once.**

**The mi****nutes crept by.**

**"He's late, maybe he's chickened out," Ron whispered.**

**Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Ronnie had only just raised her wand when they heard someone speak — and it wasn't Malfoy.**

"Good thinking raising your wand, that was very smart." Moody remarked

**"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."**

**It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Horror-struck, Ronnie waved madly at the other three to follow her as quickly as possible; they scurried silently toward the door, away**** from Filch's voice. Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room. **

**"They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter, "probably hiding."**

**"This way!" Ronnie mouthed to the others and, petrified, they bega****n to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armor. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armor****. The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.**

"Run kid! Run!" Kingsley was getting caught up in the story.

**"RUN!" Ronnie yelled, and the four of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following — they ****swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Ronnie in the lead, **

"No surprise there, you're the fastest in our year." Hermione shook her head

**without any idea where they were or where they were going — they ripped through a tapes****try and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.**

**"I think we've lost him," Ronnie panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping her forehead. Nevi****lle was bent double, wheezing and spluttering.**

**"I —told — you," Hermione gasped, clutching at the stitch in her chest, "I — told — you."**

"Now's not the time to gloat Hermione!" snapped Remus clutching his husbands hand in a vice like grip.

"No need to get snappy at my sister Remus." Said Ronnie glaring at him as she saw tears in Mione's eyes. She got up to go sit next to her. While Remus was wondering how he was going to make it up to Ronnie and Mione.

**"We've got to ge****t back to Gryffindor tower," said Ron, "quickly as possible."**

**"Malfoy tricked you," Hermione said to Ronnie. "You realize that, don't you? **

**Ronnie turned to Hermione "I knew that from the beginning! Let's go."**

**It wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't**** gone more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them. It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.**

**"Shut up, Peeves — please — you'll get us thrown out."**

**Peeves cackle****d.**

**"Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."**

**"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please."**

**"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's ****for your own good, you know."**

**"Get out of the way," snapped Ron, taking a swipe at Peeves this was a big mistake.**

Sirius whistled "Big mistake right there."

The twins shook their heads at their brother, how could have he not known how to handle Peeves.

"It's not like he comes with a manual on how to deal with him, it's not our fault." Snapped Mione she has had just about enough sniping from everyone. Her and Ronnie just stayed wrapped in each other's hugs and decided to listen to the rest of the chapter.

**"ST****UDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed, "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"**

**Ducking under Peeves, they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door — and it was locked.**

**"This is it!" Ron moaned, as they push****ed helplessly at the door, "We're done for! This is the end!"**

**They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could toward Peeves' shouts.**

**"Oh, move over," Hermione snarled.**

**She grabbed Ronnie's wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, "Alohomora!"**

**The**** lock clicked and the door swung open — they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening.**

Dumbledore paled at this, he knew why that door was locked and he hoped they got out of there soon.

**"Which way did they go, Peeves****?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."**

**"Say 'please.'"**

**"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now where did they go?"**

**"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice.**

**"He used a double negative." Was all Sirius said.**

**"All rig****ht —please."**

**"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!"**

**And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.**

**"He thinks this door is locked," Ronnie whispered. "I think we'll be oka****y — get off, Neville!"**

**For Neville had been tugging on the sleeve of Ronnie's bathrobe for the last minute. "What?"**

"Why does everyone cling to me in times of danger?" Ronnie asked

"Because you seem to take everything in your stride and made a good leader my dear girl." Said Dumbledore.

**Ronnie turned around — and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, she was sure she'd walked into the nightmare from hell- this was too much on top of everything that had already happened.**

"WHAT HAPPENED?" yelled Sirius and Remus who were clutching each other with all their might

**They weren't in a room, as she had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. **

**And now they knew why it was forbidden.**

**They were lookin****g straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging i****n slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.**

"Veronica Lily Potter get out of there!" Bellowed an irate Sirius

"It's not like book me can hear you, and if you didn't notice I am still here aren't I." said Ronnie

Remus looked at her and said in a stern voice " No is not the time to be sarcastic young lady, you are already in enough trouble you do not need to be adding to it."

**It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, yet when Ronnie looked down**** briefly she saw that it was standing on a trapped door, but she didn't have time to dwell on that, and Ronnie knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over th****at, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant.**

**Ronnie groped for the doorknob — between Filch and death, she'd take Filch.**

"You better take Filch Ronnie" rumbled Remus

"No I decided to stay in there and let it devour me." Mutted Ronnie under her breath much to Mione's amusement lucky for Ronnie, Remus did not hear what she said.

**They fell backward — Ronnie slammed the do****or shut, and they ran, they almost flew, back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else, because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared — all they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them**** and that monster. They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.**

**"Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their bathrobes hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces.**

Seeing that she was finally out of danger Remus let out a breath he did not realise he was holding.

**"Never mind that — pig snout, pig snout," panted Ronnie, and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common ****room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs. It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again.**

**"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If**** any dog needs exercise, that one does."**

**Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back again. "You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"**

**"Yes I did actually Hermione. It was standing on ****a trapped door." Ronnie stated calmly as if they were discussing the weather.**

"I know you hate when I do that Mione." Ronnie laughed

"Yeah but you tend to get used to it." Said Mione

**She glared at her, clearly she did not like other people noticing things and saying them first instead of her.**

"I love you Smoochums." Laughed Hermione at her friends pout

Ronnie mock glared "You better Sweetness."

**She stood up and continued to glare at Ronnie.**

**"I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed — or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."**

Fred and George stared at her wide eyed "You're joking right?" noticing her blush they busted out laughing at the ever reddening face.

"Leave her alone." Said Ron and Ronnie together with Ronnie adding a glare to make them stop.

**Ron stared after her, his mouth open.**

**"No, we don't mind," he said. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you."**

**But Herm****ione had given Ronnie something to think about. The dog was guarding something… What had Hagrid said? Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide — except perhaps Hogwarts.**

"Yup Hogwarts is defiantly safe." Ronnie said sarcastically, thinking back to the years she had been here for. Sirius wasn't sure he liked the sound of that.

**It looked as though Ronnie had found out where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.**

"That's the end of that chapter, who would like to read next." Said Mrs Weasley.

A gruff voice answered "I will Molly." And everyone saw that Mad eye Moody wanting to read next.


	13. Halloween

**HALLOWEEN **read Moody

Snape looked mildly intrigued at the title; he would finally know what happened.

**Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Ronnie and Ron were still at Hogwarts the next day, ****looking tired but perfectly cheerful. Indeed, by the next morning Ronnie and Ron thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure, and they were quite keen to have another one.**

**In the meantime, Ronnie filled Ron in about the packag****e that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.**

"Call me crazy-"

"But I think-"

"It could be-"

"The philosopher's stone!" the twins said as if talking to a three year old. Ronnie glared at them but it had no heat behind it.

**"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Ron.**

"Or both." Smirked Snape while Ronnie laughed loudly at that

**"Or both," said Ronnie**

Now everyone laughed at the colour Snape's face turned when he realized he had said the same thing as Ronnie.

**But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues. Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest ****in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. **

Hermione slapped Ronnie on the arm who was currently smirking at her.

**All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again. Hermione was now refusing to speak to Ronnie and Ron, but she was such a bossy know-it-all that Ron saw this as an added bonus.**

"I'm sorry babe, can you forgive me for being rude to you." Said Ronnie while giving Mione the sad puppy look.

"You know I can not resist the sad puppy look so yes I will forgive you." Said Mione much to the room's amusment.

**All they really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived in the mail about a week later.**

**As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone****'s attention was caught at once by a long, thin package carried by six large screech owls. Ronnie was just as interested as everyone ****else to see what was in this large parcel, and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of her, k****nocking her bacon to the floor.**

"Who sent you something?" Tonks asked

Ronnie shook her head "If Char reads the next couple sentences you may find out." Tonks responded in a very adult way by throwing a pillow at her which Ronnie dodged and the stuck her tounge out to Tonks who just huffed and glared mockingly at the girl.

**They had hardly fluttered out of the way**** when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel.**

**Ronnie ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:**

**DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.**

**It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a ****broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session.**

**Professor McGonagall**

**Ronnie was s****o excited her hair turned orange**** and gave the note to Ron who didn't seem to not****ice her hair at all.**

"Wait" said Tonks "why did your hair change orange for if you were excited."

AJ shrugged, "When I was little I ate and orange and I became very over the top from the juice and was very excitable so I guess it stuck with me.."

Tonks laughed at that. "That is totally random but I can see why it chose to stick, so I guess that was the only time you ate an orange."

"Yeah as my relatives did not let me have any more after that, hmm I wonder how it will affect me now I am older I will have to try it out soon." Said Ronnie while everyone was praying she did not try it out.

"If you have finished talking about random stuff, can I please get on with reading." Said Moody irritably so Ronnie and Tonks just saluted him to go ahead as Andromeda was happy that Ronnie seemed to be happier this chapter of the book and also glad that she was getting along nicely with Nymphadora

**"A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned ****enviously. "I've never even touched one."**

**They left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first class, but halfway across the entrance hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the packa****ge from Ronnie and felt it.**

**"That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to Ronnie with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them."**

**Ron couldn't resist it.**

Bill shook his head at his little brother, he needed to stop rising to Malfoy's bait.

**"It's not any old broomstick," he said, "It's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?"**

**Ron grinned at Ronnie. "Comets look flashy, but they're n****ot in the same league as the Nimbus."**

**"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig."**

Ronnie rolled her eyes changing her hair to the electric blue with pink highlights she preferred while she said "He needs to get some new insults."

**Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow.**

**"Not arguing, I hope, children?" he squeaked.**

**"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly.**

**"Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Ronnie. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?"**

**"A Nimbus Two Thousand, it is," said Ronnie, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror**** on Malfoy's face. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it," she added.**

The twins high fived Ronnie, they really needed to get together to figure out more pranks.

**Ronnie and Ron headed upstairs, smothering their laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion.**

**"Well, ****it's true," Ronnie chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase, "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall I wouldn't be on the team…"**

**"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind them. Hermi****one was stomping up the stairs, looking disapprovingly at the package in Ronnie's hand. "What happened to your hair Ronnie?"**

**Ron looked at Ronnie**** as if he had never seen her before, "You can change your appearance?"**

Hermione shook her head while Sirius looked at Ron "You didn't notice her hair went from black to bright orange till then?"

Ron went red at all the shocked looks he was getting. "I think you should pay attention to details more Ron if you want to be an Auror." Kingsley remarked.

"**Yes I can. Yes I kn****ow that it's a rare quality." Ronnie**** said noticing Hermione was about to say something. "I thought you weren't talking to us?"**

**"Yes, don't stop now;" said Ron, "it's doing us so much good."**

Remus winced at that, that was a low blow to say to a girl.

**Hermione m****arched away with her nose in the air.**

**Ronnie**** had a lot of trouble keeping her mind on her lessons that day. It kept wandering up to the dormitory where her new broomstick was lying under her bed, or straying off to the Quidditch field where she'd be learning t****o play that night.**

**She bolted her dinner that evening without noticing what she was eating, and then rushed upstairs with Ron to unwrap the Nimbus Two Thousand at last.**

**"Wow," Ron sighed, as the broomstick rolled onto the floor of the common room, no one e****lse was there yet.**

**Even Ronnie****, who knew nothing about the different brooms, thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top.**

Charlie looked as if his mouth was about to water, so Ronnie whispered in his ear "Stop drooling babe." And he looked at her with a sheepish expression.

**As seven o'clock drew nearer, Ronnie**** left the castle and set off in the dusk ****toward the Quidditch field. She had**** never been inside the stadium before. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the field so that the spectator****s were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the field were three golden poles with ho****ops on the end. They reminded Ronnie**** of the little plastic sticks Muggle children blew bubbles through, except that they were fifty feet high.**

"My dad used to get those for me when I was kid." Tonks commented sill excited that someone else like to use the colour pink for their hair.

Ted just shook his head at his girl she was just so excitable but he wouldn't change her for the world.

**Too eager t****o fly again to wait for Wood, Ronnie**** mounted her broomstick and kicked off from the ground. What a feeling — she swooped in and o****ut of the goal posts and then sped up and down the field. The Nimbus Two Thousand turned wherever she wanted at her lightest touch.**

**"Hey, Potter, come down!"**

**Oliver Wood had arrived. He was carrying a larg****e wooden crate under his arm. Ronnie**** landed next to him****.**

**"Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant… you really are a natural. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, than you'll be joining team practice three times a week."**

Ronnie and the twins all sighed at the reminder over only practice three times a week; it was so nice back then.

**He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.**

**"Right," said Wood. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on eac****h side. Three of them are called Chasers."**

Sirius smiled at that "James was an amazing chaser Ronnie and he would be proud of you just like I am." AJ smiled at that, what could she say she was a daddy's girl.

**"Three Chasers," Ronnie**** repeated, as Wood took out a br****ight red ball about the size of a soccer ball.**

**"This ball's called the Quaffle," said Wood. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the ****hoops. Follow me?"**

**"The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it**** through the hoops to score," Ronnie**** recited. "So — that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?"**

"What's basketball?" asked an excited Arthur

"Mione want to play one on one later to show Mr Weasley want basketball is." Said Ronnie

"Yeah it sounds like fun smoochums." Said Mione.

**"What's basketball?" said Wood curiously.**

**"Never mind," said Ronnie**** quickly.**

**"Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper — I'm Keeper for ****Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring."**

**"Thr****ee Chasers, one Keeper," said Ronnie****, who was determined to remember it all. "And they play with the Quaffle. Okay, got that. So what are they for?" She pointed at the three ****balls left inside the box.**

**"I'll show you now," said Wood. "Take this."**

**He handed Ronnie**** a small club, a bit like a short baseball bat.**

**"I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do," Wood said. "These two are the Bludgers****."**

**He showed Ronnie**** two identical balls, jet**** black and slightly ****smaller than the red Quaffle. Ronnie**** noticed that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box.**

**"Stand back," Wood warned Ronnie****. He bent down and freed one of the Bludgers.**

**At once, the black ball rose high in t****he ai****r and then pelted straight at Ronnie's face. Ronnie**** swung at it with the bat to stop it from breaking her nose, and sent it zigzagging away into the air — it zoomed around their heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ****ground.**

**"See?" Wood panted, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the crate and strapping it down safely. "The Bludgers rocket around, trying to knock players off their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each team — the Weasley twins are ours — ****it's their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try and knock them toward the other team. So — think you've got all that?"**

"Sirius and I were beaters, damn good beaters at that." Smirked Remus to his husband who had a small smile on his face remembering all the good times they had in school.

**"Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the goal posts; the Beaters keep the Bl****udgers away from their team," Ronnie**** reeled off that would be simple to remember.**

**"Very good," said Wood.**

**"E****r — have the ****Bludgers ever killed anyone?" Ronnie**** asked casually**

Hermione laughed at her friends sick sense of humor while Ginny looked pale at that "How could you ask that casually?"

"It seems like a cool way to go out I suppose, Death by bludger." Said Ronnie while the adults were looking at Ronnie hoping she did not do that.

**"Never at Hogwarts. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That's you. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers —"**

**"— unless th****ey crack my head open."**

"I love your sense of humor." Fred snorted and pretended to flirt which Charlie did not find humorous and Mione was feeling at bit jealous as she has had feelings for Fred since last year.

So Ronnie whisphered in Mione ear "Don't worry babe you know I only have feelings for Charlie and you know how the twins are they always joke and I am sure Fred likes you as well but is afraid to show it."

**"Don't worry, the Weasleys are more than a match for the Bludgers — I mean, they're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves."**

**Wo****od reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver wings.**

Ronnie loved the snitch, it was the coolest part of the game.

**"This," said Wood, "is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Bea****ters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his or her team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win.**

"Not always," Snorted Ron "sorry." Ron apologized with the glare he was receiving from Remus

**That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages — I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could g****et some sleep.**

**"Well, that's it any questions?"**

**Ronnie**** shook her head. She understood what she had to do all right, it was doing it that was going to be the problem.**

**"We won't practice with the Snitch yet," said Wood, carefully shutting it back inside the crat****e, "it's too dark, we might lose it. Let's try you out with a few of these."**

**He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket an****d a few minutes later, he and Ronnie**** were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction**** for Ronnie**** to catch.**

**Ronnie**** didn't miss a single one,**

Charlie smiled proudly at that. He loved that Ronnie was awesome at Quidditch.

**and Wood was delighted. After half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn't carry on.**

**"That Quidditch Cup will have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as they**** trudged back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."**

Everyone laughed at the disgruntled look on Charlie's face. "I happen to like chasing dragons." He barked out.

"I know you do babe and I like you chasing dragons." Said Ronnie

**Perhaps it was because she was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on**** top of all her homework, but Ronnie**** could hardly believe it when she realized that she'd already been at Hogwarts two months. The**** castle felt more like home than Privet Drive ever had. Her lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics.**

"I'm pretty sure you already had the basics down kid." Kingsley smiled

Remus and Sirius looked proudly at Ronnie, she was very intelligent and very kind. They couldn't be prouder.

**On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought ****they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom.**

**Professor Flitwick put the ****class into pairs to practice. Ronnie****'s partner was Seamus Finnigan (which was ****a relief, because Neville had been trying to catch her eye).**

Molly was ready to comment but one look from Remus had her changing her mind.

"Neville would have been better to partnered with." Said Ronnie while in her head thinking about what else she can do to help his confidence.

**Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger.**

**It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about ****this. She hadn't spoken to**** either of them since the day Ronnie****'s broomstick had arrived.**

**"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor**

**Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, ****swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too — never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."**

Remus looked at his husband who happened to be blushing while Snape looked smug. Ronnie was wondering if she will ever get to hear the story.

**It was actually very ****easy, but charms came easy to Ronnie****.**

**Ronnie**** and Seamus ****swished and flicked, but only Ronnie**** managed to get the feather to fly out of the pair of them. She earned Gryffindor 10 points, Seamus got so impatient that he prodded ****it with ****his wand and set fire to it — Ronnie**** had to put it out with his hat.**

**Ron, at the next table, wasn't having much more luck.**

**"Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.**

"You're saying it wrong Weasley." Snorted Snape, honestly that child was so impatient with his studies. Ronnie and Mione were trying not to laugh.

**"You're saying it wrong," Ronnie**** heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."**

**"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.**

**Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, ****flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"**

**Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.**

**"Oh, well done!" professor Flitwick said, "5 points ****to Gryffindor." Hermione shot Ronnie a glare and Ronnie**** couldn't figure out why. **

"Sorry babe I was so caught up in my studies and I wanted to be the person who was best at everything." Said Mione

"I know babe and you do not have to apologise." Said Ronnie

**Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class.**

**"It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to**** Ronnie**** as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly."**

**Someone knocked into Ronnie**** as they hurri****ed past him. It was Hermione. Ronnie**** caught a glimpse of her face — and was startled to see that she was in tears.**

Fred glared darkly at his little brother who didn't look the least bit apologetic.

**"I think she heard you."**

**"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."**

**"Ron! That's really mean, she's ****just trying to make friends." Ronnie**** said feel****ing guilty. Ron looked at her like she was crazy. She sighed and shook her head.**

"Thanks pookie bear" Hermione said in a baby voice trying diffuse the tension in the room

Ronnie changed her hair from blue to pink "You're welcome lamb chop, meet me in the broom closet later." She said in a very flirty voice. Everyone laughed at the pair, forgetting how mean Ron was.

**Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great ****Hall for the Halloween feast, Ronnie**** and Ron ov****erheard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone. Ron looked still more awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations put He****rmione out of their minds if only for a moment. A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the gold****en plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.**

"The Halloween feasts are the best Sir." Remarked the twins

"Thank you boys, we do try to keep things festive." Smiled Dumbledore

**Ronnie**** was just helping herself to a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came ****sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll — in the dungeons — thought you ought to know."**

**He then sank to the floor in a dead ****faint.**** Ronnie thought she had read somewhere that you faint backwards but just shrugged her shoulders. **

Remus snarled at that, there was something wrong with that man. And the teachers were thinking how come they did not notice the way he fainted.

**There was uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.**

**"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormi****tories immediately!"**

**Percy was in his element.**

**"Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"**

Molly and Arthur were beaming at the thought of their son being so responsible while the other Weasley children pretended to gag

**"How could a troll get in?" Ronnie**** asked as they climbed the stairs.**

**"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in**** for a Halloween joke."**

"Even Peeves wouldn't do that." Fred said.

**They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a c****rowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Ronnie**** suddenly grabbed Ron's arm.**

**"I've just thought**** — Hermione."**

Tonks gasped at that "You didn't know!"

**"What about her?"**

**"She doesn't know about the troll."**

**Ron bit his lip.**

**"Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."**

"My God Ron!" snarled Fred "That troll could kill her and you're acting as if she was outside during a thunderstorm!" Hermione grabbed his hand and shook her head letting him know she didn't care.

**Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off toward**** the girls' bathroom. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.**

**"Percy!" hissed Ron, pulling Ronnie**** behind a large stone griffin.**

**Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappear****ed from view.**

**"What's he doing?" Ronnie**** whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"**

**"Search me."**

**Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.**

**"He's ****heading for the third floor," Ronnie****said, but Ron held up his hand.**

**"Can you smell something?"**

**Ronnie**** sniffed and a foul stench reached her nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.**

"The troll." Muttered a nervous Sirius

**And then they heard it — a low ****grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed — at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving toward them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight. It was a horrible sight. Twe****lve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was hold****ing a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.**

**The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.**

"**The key is in the lock." Ron**** said "We could lock it in."**

"NO!" Yelled Remus much to the amusement of Ronnie and Hermione

"**We can't lock it in the bathroom! That'****s where Hermione is!" snapped Ronnie**** she could see her long hair turning red with anger.**

**Ronnie**** pulled the door open and they ran insid****e.**

**Hermione Granger was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.**

**"Confuse it!" Ronnie**** said desperately to Ron, and, seizing a tap, she threw it as ha****rd as she could against the wall.**

"Good idea!" a pale looking Sirius approved

Kingsley and Tonks nodded their heads in agreement

**The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean lit****tle eyes saw Ronnie****. It hesitated, then made for her instead, lifting its club as it went.**

**"Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but ****it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly sno****ut toward Ron instead, giving Ronnie**** time to run around it.**

**"Come on, run, run!" Ronnie**** yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her toward the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her ****mouth open with terror.**

Fred looked ready to faint while Molly and Arthur were staring at Ron in horror, they could have lost their baby.

**The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started toward Ron, who was ne****arest and had no way to escape.**

**Ronnie**** pulled her hair back and then did something that was both very brave and very stupid:**

Sirius and Remus looked at Ronnie reminding themselves she was alive and well

**She took a great running jump and managed to fasten her arms around the troll's neck from behind.**

"VERONICA LILY POTTER." Shouted Sirius and Remus

**The troll couldn't feel Ronnie hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Ronnie's wand had still been in her hand when she'd jumped – it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils. Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Ronnie clinging on for dear life; she had the faint idea that the Dursleys would be receiving their Christmas gift early this year.**

"We will be having a discussion about this later young lady." Said Sirius while Ronnie was glaring at the floor and Andromeda was looking at Ronnie and she could see that Ronnie was struggling with her temper and trying not to lash out.

**Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright; Ron pulled out his own wand — not knowing what he was going to do he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: "Wingardium Leviosa!"**

**The club flew sudde****nly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over — and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.**

Molly and Arthur let out long deep breaths while clutching Ron to them, Sirius and Remus turned to their daughter, Sirius narrowed his eyes at her "Ronnie, never jump on a trolls back."

"Well I kind of gathered that the first time around." Said Ronnie sarcastically.

**Ronnie**** got to her feet. She was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done.**

**It was Hermione who spoke first.**

**"Is it — dead?"**

**"I don't think so," said Ronnie****, "I think it's just been knocked o****ut."**

**She bent down and pulled her wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy gray glue.**

**"Urgh — troll boogers."**

Fred and George eyed Ronnie's wand as if they were expecting it to be covered in troll boogers.

**She wiped it on the trol****l's trousers.**

**A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up. They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGon****agall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.**

**Snape bent over the troll. Professor ****M****cGonagall was looking at Ron, Ronnie and Hermione. Ronnie**** had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white.**

Kingsley looked to Remus "Ever make her that mad mate?"

Remus and Sirius blushed a little at that but Sirius answered never the less "She caught us having sex when we skipped history one day." Snape looked like a wanted to be sick while Dumbledore was looking at the ceiling wondering why his students insisted on having intercourse doing school hours.

Ronnie was thinking about how they lecture her to be a good girl and do well in school when they always broke rules, they were hypocrite thought Ronnie angrily. Like she would want to have sex in school when her boyfriend had already graduated and who gets caught any way.

**Hopes of winning fifty points for ****Gryffindor faded quickly from Ronnie****'s mind.**

**"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in ****her voice. Ronnie**** looked at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"**

**Snape gave Ronnie a swift, piercing look. Ronnie**** looked at the flo****or. She wished Ron would put his**** wand down.**

**Then a ****small voice came out of the shadows.**

**"Please, Professor McGonagall — they were looking for me."**

Snape glared at the teenager, he knew she was lying he just couldn't prove it. Brats the lot of them.

**"Miss Granger!"**

**"I didn't know about the troll, they came ****looking for me to tell me about it and get me to go back to Gryffindor tower."**

**"And why did you not know about the troll Miss Granger?" Asked Professor McGonagall.**

**"Because I wasn't at the feast."**

**"Very well, you may leave."**

**Hermione left.**

**Professor ****McGonagall turned to Ronnie**** and Ron.**

**"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."**

"That was all you got?" snorted Tonks she expected a hell of a lot more than just five.

**They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.**

**"We**** should have gotten more than ten points," Ron grumbled.**

**"Well I think putting our lives in danger made her a little upset Ron."**

Dumbledore chuckled at that, she was terrified for her lions.

**"Good of Hermione to explain the situation to McGonagall," Ron sa****id casually. "Mind you we did save her."**

**"She might not have needed saving if you hadn't ****said those things about her," Ronnie**** reminded him.**

Fred nodded his head at that still very angry his little brother for that, Ronnie looked at him for a moment then looked away and she realised he seemed to like a certain best friend of hers. She knew he liked her.

**They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.**

**"Pig snout," they said and entered.**

**The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone b****y the door, waiting for them. There**

**was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks," and hurried off to get plates.**

**But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can'****t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them."**

"Best friend for sure." Smiled Ronnie

Hermione laughed at her blue haired friend "Of course we're best friends, who else would put up with you and Charlie."

Ronnie grumbled something about maybe needing a new friend but had a smile on her face.

"That's the chapter finished." Said Moody

Dumbledore got to his feet and suggested lunch.


	14. A Chat With Aunt Andy

**A chat with Aunt Andy**

As everyone was eating lunch and chatting about what they have learnt about 'The Golden Trio' so far, Andromeda Tonks was sitting silently contemplating on how to address her niece about her recent attitude towards Sirius and Remus. Ted saw that his wife was thinking about something hard and whispered in her ear "What are you thinking about so silently." So she responded just as quietly "I was wondering on how I was going to talk to Ronnie about her recent attitude towards Sirius and Remus, they are hurting so bad already for not being there for her and know she decides not to listen to them, it is literally killing them inside."

Ted thought for a moment and then replied "Have you ever thought on how Ronnie is feeling all about this, you got to think she has not really had anybody there for her and I'm not sure Molly is the best role model of a parent, so she goes from over 10 years of her life alone to suddenly having people care about her, that has got to be tough and I know it does not excuse her behaviour but just see if from her side as well before you chat."

"Thanks for pointing that out to me dear, knowing me I would have said something that most probably ended up as a screaming match between us, she had to inherit her mother's temper didn't she." Said Andromeda quietly.

While Andy and Ted were talking quietly so were Remus and Sirius, they were quietly discussing Ronnie's attitude and how they were going to go about it. Andy saw them talking and went over to them to discuss her having a chat with Ronnie.

"Sirius, Remus would you mind me having a chat with Ronnie first to see why she is acting how she is, there has got to be something making her act like the way she is, I am sure I could get through to her more than you can at the moment and hopefully miss out on a screaming match." Said Andy quietly

Sirius and Remus looked at Andy and Sirius said "Do you mind, Remus and I are near our wit's end at how to deal with her, hopefully she will listen to you, all we want is to be there for and show her we love her."

As everyone had nearly finished dinner and were about to head back to read some more of the book Andromeda quickly stood as said "Do you mind taking a break as I would like to have a chat with my niece before we get back to reading."

"No problem Andromeda we will take a break and will wait for your return." Said Dumbledore.

"Ronnie would you please come with me to the library I would like to have a little chat." Said Andromeda

"Yeah sure I can aunt Andy." Said Ronnie while wondering why she would like to talk to her, so she gave Charlie a quick peck on lips and said she will see him in a few.

**Upstairs in the library**

Ronnie was sitting in an armchair next to the fireplace waiting for her aunt Andy to start speaking; she had a good idea about what this talk was going to consist of.

"I gather you know the reason I have brought you up here." Said Andy

"You want to talk to me about my behaviour and attitude I have been using against Siri and Remmy right?" said Ronnie

Andy looked at her niece in the eyes and saw just how much it has been hurting her to use attitude against them and be rude. "Yes that is the exact reason I have brought you up here young lady, I know you may be going through emotional stuff reading about what has happened to you over the years but that does not give you the right to take it out on Sirius and Remus. Said Andy

Ronnie burst into tears and said while sobbing "I know it doesn't give me a right but sometimes I cannot help myself I don't mean to take it out on them but sometime my temper gets the best of me, I bet I have ruined my chance with them, they most probably want nothing to do with me, I ruin everything. It's my entire fault my parents died and that Cedric died and also it is my fault Voldemort came back". After she had ranted that Ronnie was inconsolable no matter what Andy said to her, so she just hugged her niece while whispering "It's not your fault dear, none of it is. I'm sure Sirius and Remus will understand about your attitude if you explain to them." Finally after 15 minutes of uncontrollable sobbing Ronnie got her emotions under control.

"Thanks for talking with me Aunt Andy I feel somewhat better now, I will speak to Siri and Remmy before we go to bed, I have some major apologizing to do to them. Do you think I can sit with you for the time being while reading the book?"

"Of course you can dear, let's get you cleaned up before we head down." Said Andy. Ronnie went into the bathroom to sort out her makeup out and she decided to change her hair back to the original colour. After coming out of the bathroom she meets Andy at the top of the stairs and they walked back down together.

Ronnie stopped outside of the room they were reading the books in and grabbed her Aunts hand and they both walked in but Ronnie kept her head down and refused to meet anybody's eyes. Andy brought her over to the couch where her husband and daughter were sitting and sat down bringing the teenager into her lap.

"We can get back to reading the book now, so who is reading next." Said Andy while everyone was wondering why Ronnie would not look at them.

"I will." Said George wile grabbing the book

"**Quidditch." **Said George while nearly everyone was cheering.


	15. Quidditch

Hermione paled at hearing the name of the title that had been one of the worst moments in her life. Fred noticed Hermione's change, grabbed her hand in silent support which she was grateful for.

**As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy grey and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous beaver skin boots.**

**The Quidditch season had begun.**

"The best time of the year." Sighed Charlie and Sirius. Ronnie smirked her boyfriend and Sirius are more alike than they realise

**On Saturday, Ronnie would be playing in her first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin.**

"Those are the best games." Remarked Tonks

Kingsley gave her a look "Yeah but they're also the most bloody if you recall."

**If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the house championship.**

**Hardly anyone had seen Ronnie play because Wood had decided that, as their secret weapon, Ronnie should be kept, well, secret. But the news that she was playing Seeker had leaked out somehow, and Ronnie didn't know which was worse — people telling her she'd be brilliant or people telling her they'd be running around underneath her holding a mattress.**

Remus shook his head "I somehow doubt that would have been needed." But he didn't notice the way none of the people that attended that match turned their heads.

**It was really lucky that Ronnie now had Hermione as a friend. She didn't know how much she missed someone to study with and just talk with over anything.**

Ronnie and Hermione shared smiles at that, of course they studied a lot and did homework but they usually spent their nights talking and laughing.

**What with all the last-minute Quidditch practice Wood was making them do? She had also lent her Quidditch Through the Ages, which turned out to be a very interesting read. Ronnie learned that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473; that Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players, and that most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them; that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert.**

"That must have been a fun game!" Fred said

Hermione looked at Fred like he was crazy but George was nodding in agreement.

She had to have feelings for a guy crazy about Quidditch.

**Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Ronnie and Ron had saved her from the mountain troll, and she was much nicer for it.**

**The day before Ronnie's first Quidditch match the three of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and Ronnie taught them how to make a small fire. Hermione learned the spell quickly and conjured them up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar..**

"Maybe you should consider teaching Ronnie." Smiled Dumbledore

Ronnie, Ron and Hermione snorted at that, she technically was teaching students in the art of defence.

**They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Ronnie noticed at once that Snape was limping. Ronnie, Ron, and Hermione moved closer together to block the fire from view; they were sure it wouldn't be allowed. Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape's eye. He limped over. He hadn't seen the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway.**

**"What's that you've got there, Potter?"**

**It was Quidditch Through the Ages. Ronnie showed him.**

**"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," said Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."**

Arthur shook his head at the potions master "That's not a rule Severus."

"You really need to stop thinking that she's James, she's not him and she never will be." Sirius said calmly

Snape just ignored them but caught Ronnie's eye and once again felt guilt rising up in him thinking about Lily.

**"He's just made that rule up," Ronnie muttered angrily as Snape limped away. She hated when people made things up just to get others into trouble that always happened at the Dursleys which ended in an unforgettable punishment. "Wonder what's wrong with his leg?"**

**"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," said Ron bitterly.**

Molly glared at her blushing son "Ronald Weasley! That was very rude! You need to apologize to your professor NOW!" the twins, Bill and Charlie couldn't hold back snorts of laughter at that.

Ron glared at the room but muttered "sorry professor for hoping you were hurt. Four years ago!" he snapped out. Before Molly could give Ronnie another headache she begged George with pleading eyes to continue.

**The Gryffindor common room was very noisy that evening. Ronnie, Ron, and Hermione sat together next to a window. Hermione was checking Ron's Charms homework for them. Ronnie wanted to tell Hermione to calm down but one look at Ron's homework kept her mouth shut. Ronnie felt restless. She wanted Quidditch Through the Ages back, to take her mind off her nerves about tomorrow. Why should she be afraid of Snape? He wouldn't hit her even though he seemed like he wanted to at times.**

Snape flinched at that, he might not like Potter but he would never hit her or any student for that matter, he needed to talk with her about this.

**Getting up, she told Ron and Hermione she was going to ask Snape if she could have it.**

**"Better you than me," they said together, but Ronnie had an idea that Snape wouldn't refuse if there were other teachers listening.**

**She made her way down to the staffroom and knocked. There was no answer. She knocked again. Nothing.**

**Perhaps Snape had left the book in there? It was worth a try. She pushed the door ajar and peered inside – and a horrible scene met her eyes.**

**Snape and Filch were inside, alone.**

Fred and George started to laugh loudly while Tonks and Ronnie's hair turned green

"No judgment." Kingsley Promised to the scowling teacher.

**Snape was holding his robes above his knees.**

Bill, Hermione, Charlie, Sirius and Remus joined in on the laughter at this. Dumbledore closed his eyes in hopes of getting that image out of his head.

Ronnie turned to the professor "It's okay really professor, we're in a no judgment zone right now. Feel free to let out your true emotions." Snape sneered at the green haired girl momentarily forgetting his guilt towards her.

**One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages.**

**"Blasted thing," Snape was saying. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"**

**Ronnie tried to shut the door quietly, but —**

**"POTTER!"**

Sirius turned to his daughter "We have to teach you how to sneak around pup."

"I think I sneak around pretty good if I do say so myself" said Ronnie

**Snape's face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg. Ronnie gulped.**

**"I just wondered if I could have my book back."**

**"GET OUT! OUT! "**

**Ronnie left, before Snape could take any more points from Gryffindor. She sprinted back upstairs.**

**"Did you get it?" Ron asked as Ronnie joined them. "What's the matter?"**

**In a low whisper, Ronnie told them what she'd seen.**

**"You know what this means?" she finished breathlessly. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween! That's where he was going when we saw him — he's after whatever it's guarding! And I'd bet my broomstick he let that troll in, to make a diversion!"**

**Hermione's eyes were wide.**

**"No — he wouldn't," she said. "I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."**

**"Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something," snapped Ron. "I'm with Ronnie. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?"**

**Ronnie went to bed with her head buzzing with the same question but she couldn't sleep. She sunk onto Hermione's bed to talk to her about it; they couldn't think of anything that would need that much guarding. Hermione tried distracting her with having Ronnie change her hair at will along with her eyes, Ronnie loved having her hair electric blue while Hermione thought the bright purple looked pretty cool too. **

"I love the colour purple but it doesn't look right on me I suppose." Commented Tonks

"I like your hair pink, it's fun and vibrant which is you." Smiled Ronnie

Tonks was bouncing in her seat again, she loved that she wasn't alone in this anymore.

**When Ronnie finally felt exhausted enough to sleep she went back into her own bed, she had her first Quidditch match in a few hours – but the expression on Snape's face when Ronnie had seen his leg wasn't easy to forget.**

**The next morning dawned very bright and cold. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match.**

**The next morning dawned very bright and cold. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match.**

**"You've got to eat some breakfast."**

Charlie looked at Ronnie in shock "You need to eat punk, keep up your strength during a game." Ronnie rolled her eyes playfully at that realizing they were yet again getting caught up in the game.

**"I don't want anything."**

**"Just a bit of toast," suggested Hermione.**

**"I'm not hungry."**

**Ronnie felt terrible. She usually got this feeling after her Uncle smacked her around a few times.**

Everyone stiffened at the reminder of how her uncle treated her.

**In an hour's time she'd be walking onto the field.**

**"Ronnie, you need your strength," said Seamus Finnegan. "Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team."**

"And he seriously wonders why I kept turning him down for a date?" Ronnie snarled

Hermione laughed at that, Ronnie always had guys asking her out but Seamus never gave up. Charlie could feel the jealousy rising up inside him knowing that Ronnie keeps getting asked out by other people.

**"Thanks, Seamus," said Ronnie, watching Seamus pile ketchup on his sausages.**

**By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air, but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes.**

**Ron and Hermione joined Neville, Seamus, and Dean the West Ham fan up in the top row. As a surprise for Ronnie, they had painted a large banner on one of the sheets Scabbers had ruined.**

Remus and Sirius bit back growls at the mention of the rat, he ruined so many lives.

**It said Potter for President, and Dean, who was good at drawing, had done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Then Hermione had performed a tricky little charm so that the paint flashed different colours.**

**Meanwhile, in the locker room, Ronnie and the rest of the team were changing into their scarlet Quidditch robes (Slytherin would be playing in green). Ronnie changed her hair dark red with gold highlights to support Gryffindor even more.**

**Wood cleared his throat for silence.**

**"Okay, men," he said.**

**"And women," said Chaser Angelina Johnson.**

**"And women," Wood agreed. "This is it."**

**"The big one," said Fred Weasley.**

**"The one we've all been waiting for," said George.**

**"We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred told Ronnie, "we were on the team last year."**

"Remember when his speeches were short?" asked Fred

"Remember when he didn't wake us up at four am for practice?" asked George

"Remember when he didn't contemplate suicide after games?" asked Ronnie

Before they could continue "Read the damn book Weasley!" snarled Snape

**"Shut up, you two," said Wood. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it."**

**He glared at them all as if to say, "Or else."**

**"Right. It's time. Good luck, all of you."**

**Ronnie followed Fred and George out of the locker room and, hoping her knees weren't going to give way, walked onto the field to loud cheers. Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the field waiting for the two teams, her broom in her hand.**

**"Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said, once they were all gathered around her.**

Bill cocked his head to the side "I thought you were playing Slytherin?"

The twins nodded "We were, she's just a hopeless optimist I suppose" Ronnie commented

**Ronnie noticed that she seemed to be speaking particularly to the Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint, a sixth year. Ronnie thought Flint looked as if he had some troll blood in him.**

**Out of the corner of her eye she saw the fluttering banner high above, flashing Potter for President over the crowd. Her heart skipped. She felt braver.**

**"Mount your brooms, please."**

**Ronnie clambered onto her Nimbus Two Thousand.**

**Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle.**

**Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air. They were off.**

**"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor — what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too —"**

**"JORDAN!"**

Remus and Sirius laughed loudly at that, "He could have given your brother a run for his money." Remus laughed

Seeing the questioningly looks Sirius elaborated "My little brother Regulus was the commentator for Slytherin but whenever they played Gryffindor he would comment on all the girls on the Gryffindor team." Ronnie noticed he had a sad look in his eyes when talking about Uncle Regulus

**"Sorry, Professor."**

**The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.**

**"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve — back to Johnson and — no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes — Flint flying like an eagle up there — he's going to sc— no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle — that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and — OUCH — that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger — Quaffle taken by the Slytherins — that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger — sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which — nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes — she's really flying — dodges a speeding Bludger — the goal posts are ahead — come on, now, Angelina — Keeper Bletchley dives — misses — GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"**

Charlie and Sirius cheered at that much to the amusement of their significant others.

**Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins.**

**"Budge up there, move along."**

**"Hagrid!"**

"They're not in your head anymore." Ginny blushed

**Ron and Hermione squeezed together to give Hagrid enough space to join them.**

**"Bin watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, patting a large pair of binoculars around his neck, "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"**

**"Nope," said Ron. "Ronnie hasn't had much to do yet."**

**"Kept outta trouble, though, that's somethin'," said Hagrid, raising his binoculars and peering skyward at the speck that was Ronnie.**

**Way up above them, Ronnie was gliding over the game, squinting about for some sign of the Snitch. This was part of her and Wood's game plan.**

"He did have some good plans." Commented Ronnie

"Doesn't he play for the national team now?" Ronnie nodded her head at Arthur

**"Keep out of the way until you catch sight of the Snitch," Wood had said. "We don't want you attacked before you have to be."**

**When Angelina had scored, Ronnie had done a couple of loop-the-loops to let off her feelings. Now she was back to staring around for the Snitch. Once she caught sight of a flash of gold, but it was just a reflection from one of the Weasleys' wristwatches,**

"You should probably take those off boys." Bill suggested

The twins shrugged their shoulders at that, it was rather doubtful they would do that.

**and once a Bludger decided to come pelting her way, more like a cannonball than anything, but Ronnie dodged it and Fred Weasley came chasing after it.**

**"All right there, Ronnie?" he had time to yell, as he beat the Bludger furiously toward Marcus Flint.**

**"Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying, "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the — wait a moment — was that the Snitch?"**

**A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear.**

**Ronnie saw it. In a great rush of excitement she dived downward after the streak of gold. Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs had seen it, too. Neck and neck they hurtled toward the Snitch — all the Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in midair to watch.**

Snape should his head at that, they should be focused on the game.

**Ronnie was faster than Higgs — she could see the little round ball, wings fluttering, darting up ahead — she put on an extra spurt of speed —WHAM! A roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors below — Marcus Flint had blocked Ronnie on purpose, and Ronnie's broom spun off course, Ronnie holding on for dear life.**

Sirius glared at the book in George's hand that should have been a foul.

**"Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors.**

**Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goal posts for Gryffindor. But in all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again.**

**Down in the stands, Dean Thomas was yelling, "Send him off, ref! Red card!"**

**"What are you talking about, Dean?" said Ron.**

**"Red card!" said Dean furiously. "In football you get shown the red card and you're out of the game!"**

**"But this isn't football, Dean," Ron reminded him.**

**Hagrid, however, was on Dean's side.**

**"They oughta change the rules. Flint coulda knocked Ronnie outta the air."**

**Lee Jordan was finding it difficult not to take sides.**

The twins shook their heads fondly at their friend's antics.

"Did your brother take sides a lot Sirius" asked Ronnie

Sirius seemed shocked that she spoke to him but answered anyways. "Yeah he did but he did always have my back when I needed him". Ronnie noticed he had a sad look on his face so she did not ask anything else.

**"So — after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating —"**

**"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.**

**"I mean, after that open and revolting foul…"**

**"Jordan, I'm warning you—"**

"I love this guy!" laughed Kingsley

**"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinner, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."**

**It was as Ronnie dodged another Bludger, which went spinning dangerously past her head, that it happened. Her broom gave a sudden, frightening lurch. For a split second, she thought she was going to fall. She gripped the broom tightly with both her hands and knees. She'd never felt anything like that. It happened again. It was as though the broom was trying to buck her off.**

The mood instantly went somber at that. "What's happening to your broom?" asked a hysterical Tonks

**But Nimbus Two Thousands did not suddenly decide to buck their riders off. Ronnie tried to turn back toward the Gryffindor goal-posts — she had half a mind to ask Wood to call time-out — and then she realized that her broom was completely out of her control. She couldn't turn it. She couldn't direct it at all. It was zigzagging through the air, and every now and then making violent swishing movements that almost unseated her.**

The truth hit them like a ton of bricks "Someone's jinxing her broom!" yelled Bill, he hadn't heard of this happening and judging by the panic stricken face on his brother he hadn't either.

"You never told me about this punk." Growled out Charlie, Ronnie moved off her aunt's lap and went over to Charlie to call him down so she hugged him and gave him a quick kiss hoping it would work.

**Lee was still commentating.**

**"Slytherin in possession — Flint with the Quaffle — passes Spinnet — passes Bell — hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose — only joking, Professor — Slytherins score — A no…"**

**The Slytherins were cheering. No one seemed to have noticed that Ronnie's broom was behaving strangely. It was carrying her slowly higher, away from the game, jerking and twitching as it went.**

"Now you can't make it to the ground." Sirius gave her a small smile, this was getting to be too much to hear.

**"Dunno what Ronnie thinks she's doing," Hagrid mumbled. He stared through his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say she'd lost control of her broom… but she can't have…"**

"Yer well I did." Ronnie muttered.

**Suddenly, people were pointing up at Ronnie all over the stands. Her broom had started to roll over and over, with her only just managing to hold on. Then the whole crowd gasped. Ronnie's broom had given a wild jerk and Ronnie off it.**

Charlie lost control and picked Ronnie up setting her in his lap, this may have happened four years ago but it was the fact that it still happened.

**She was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand.**

**"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered.**

**"Can't have," Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic — no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."**

"Oh sweet Merlin." Muttered Remus to Sirius, Hogwarts was supposed to be safe why couldn't it stay safe?

Tonks was so nervous her hair was rapidly changing colors while Kingsley wrapped an arm around his partner trying to calm them both down, the twins were looking directly at Ronnie reminding themselves she was okay, Hermione was sniffling into Fred's shoulder remembering the fear that overcame her at the moment. Ginny, Ron, Molly and Arthur were trying not to lash out at everyone while Dumbledore and Snape looked irate at the man who was tormenting a child.

**At these words, Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars, but instead of looking up at Ronnie, she started looking frantically at the crowd.**

**"What are you doing?" moaned Ron, gray-faced.**

**"I knew it," Hermione gasped, "Snape — look."**

**Ron grabbed the binoculars. Snape was in the middle of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Ronnie and was muttering nonstop under his breath.**

**"He's doing something — jinxing the broom," said Hermione.**

"Or the counter jinx." Said a pail looking Sirius

**"What should we do?"**

**"Leave it to me."**

**Before Ron could say another word, Hermione had disappeared. Ron turned the binoculars back on Ronnie. Her broom was vibrating so hard, it was almost impossible for her to hang on much longer. The whole crowd was on its feet, watching, terrified, as the Weasleys flew up to try and pull Ronnie safely onto one of their brooms, but it was no good – every time they got near her, the broom would jump higher still. They dropped lower and circled beneath her, obviously hoping to catch her if she fell.**

"Thank you guys, really. That means more to me then you'll ever know." Charlie smiled at his twin brothers, they maybe jokesters but they protected their family

**Marcus Flint seized the Quaffle and scored five times without anyone noticing.**

"That shouldn't have counted!" snarled Fred making Hermione laugh for the first time in awhile

**"Come on, Hermione," Ron muttered desperately.**

**Hermione had fought her way across to the stand where Snape stood, and was now racing along the row behind him; she didn't even stop to say sorry as she knocked Professor Quirrell headfirst into the row in front.**

The adults narrowed their eyes at that, Quirrell was acting more and more strange.

**Reaching Snape, she crouched down, pulled out her wand, and whispered a few, well-chosen words. Bright blue flames shot from her wand onto the hem of Snape's robes, It took perhaps thirty seconds for Snape to realize that he was on fire. A sudden yelp told her she had done her job. Scooping the fire off him into a little jar in her pocket, she scrambled back along the row — Snape would never know what had happened.**

Snape in that moment looked more murderous than ever before. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and detention for the next month!"

"Now Severus, this happened four years ago and it said in the letter no points or detentions can be given for what we read from the books". Dumbledore spoke calmly but there was finality in his voice that Molly didn't seem to notice.

Molly looked over at the headmaster "That's completely unacceptable Albus! She lit a teacher on fire! She could have seriously hurt someone and you're not even going to see to it that it doesn't happen again?"

Dumbledore shook his head at Molly "Molly it was stated in the letter that we cannot remove points or give detentions, but if she sets another teacher on fire while in school then she will be punished accordingly".

Hermione sunk back into the couch thanking Merlin she wouldn't get into trouble; Fred gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

Ronnie couldn't help but roll her eyes at Molly, if she ever married Charlie she would make sure they moved far away and would forget to give Molly their address change.

**It was enough. Up in the air, Ronnie was suddenly able to clamber back on to her broom.**

**"Neville, you can look!" Ron said. Neville had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes.**

**Ronnie was speeding toward the ground when the crowd saw her clap her hand to her mouth as though she was about to be sick — she hit the field on all fours — coughed — and something gold fell into her hand.**

"You swallowed the snitch?" laughed Tonks finally calmed down enough to talk.

Fred and George nodded "Best seeker we ever had!"

Charlie kissed Ronnie's cheek and set her down next to him, she never did anything normal that's for sure.

**"I've got the Snitch!" she shouted, waving it above her head, and the game ended in complete confusion.**

**"She didn't catch it, she nearly swallowed it," Flint was still howling twenty minutes later, but it made no difference — Ronnie hadn't broken any rules and Lee Jordan was**

**still happily shouting the results — Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty. Ronnie heard none of this, though.**

Sirius looked at her like she was crazy "Baby you should be celebrating! That was an excellent game!"

"I had things to discuss with a certain half giant Sirius." Ronnie smiled.

Sirius smiled back thinking finally she seems to be more open and has given the attitude a rest.

**She was being made a cup of strong tea back in Hagrid's hut, with Ron and Hermione.**

**"It was Snape," Ron was explaining, "Hermione and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you."**

**"Rubbish," said Hagrid, who hadn't heard a word of what had gone on next to him in the stands. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?"**

Kingsley looked at the enraged professor and couldn't help but poke the sleeping bear "You do have a lot against you Severus, maybe if Filch would give it up more you'd be a little happier." Molly looked disapprovingly at the auror while everyone else laughed at him, Ronnie liked him from the very beginning.

**Ronnie, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another, wondering what to tell him. Ronnie decided on the truth.**

**"I found out something about him," she told Hagrid. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."**

**Hagrid dropped the teapot.**

**"How do you know about Fluffy?" he said.**

**"Fluffy?"**

**"Yeah — he's mine — bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year — I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the —"**

Dumbledore shook his head fondly at that, Hagrid was very loyal but he couldn't keep a secret to save his life.

**"Yes?" said Ronnie eagerly.**

**"Now, don't ask me anymore," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."**

**"But Snape's trying to steal it."**

**"Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothin' of the sort."**

**But Ronnie couldn't help but think of all the mean things Snape had done to Ronnie, he really seemed to hate her. Then again, he was a teacher that had to count for something right?**

Snape felt that annoying emotion of guilt well up inside of him again, he hated that she was so much like Lily.

**"So why did he just try and kill Ronnie?" cried Hermione.**

**The afternoon's events certainly seemed to have changed her mind about Snape.**

**"I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"**

Before anyone could speak Hermione bit out "I had not read about counter curses yet".

**"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Ronnie's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all three of yeh — yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel —"**

"He just gave you more information." Chuckled Kingsley

**"Aha!" said Ronnie, "so there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?"**

**Hagrid looked furious with himself.**

"He should have." Smirked Snape.

"Who would like to read next" said George and Kingsley decided it should be him.

He nodded his head and looked at the next chapter with an odd look "**The Mirror of Erised...**"

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**Sorry for the wait on an updat i have been super busy but i finally now have some free time so i should be able to update better. Sorry if there is any spelling mistakes i did check but sometimes i do miss them. Please review. I am pairing hermione with fred and was wondering who should i pair Ron with.**


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